It was just one stupid bet
by Guildsnake
Summary: When Yami lost his bet against Bakura and Malik, he definitely didn't expect any good things to happen. A public riding school, giggling girls... He could made a bet that he would be only man out there. What he didn't know was that a little lost would chance his life. Rated M because I know myself.
1. Chapter 1

**_That's my first fic for very long time. I hope it will be as pleasant to read as it is write^^_**  
 ** _I don't own YU-GI-OH_**

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There should be a rule about how much one person could have to be a fool. It would come very handy when you spoke about Bakura and Malik and interaction with those two idiots…

Yami gave a deep sigh and looked at his phone. It was not even ten on a Saturday morning. Huge yawn split his face and Yami cursed again. Damn bet! Without it he would now be in his own bed and still sleeping. Not walking on a sand road in the middle of nowhere. Bakura and Malik would be laughing their heads off when they woke. Damn bastards! Note to self: even if it sounds good to make a bet against those two, don't do it. It will be end straight to you own face… Or balls… Oh gosh, how on Earth did Bakura even get this idea?

Road made turn and the wind carried an all but pleasant smell. Yami shuddered and gave a very sour look to the red buildings that stood behind trees. A public riding school… This was absolutely hell and he so would strangle Bakura if anyone recognized him. Even if that seemed to be very unlikely. The parking slot where he had left his car was full of cheap and rusty middle class cars. His own silver color jaguar didn't fit to the group. If someone could just tell him why that parking slot had to be at least half a mile away from the stables?

Smell didn't get any easier when Yami get closer to the stables. Hell, good luck he had taken one of his old leather jackets. That smell wouldn't go away in any wash… He was so in the wrong place… The sun was shining brightly and the birds were singing. He could hear some girlish giggling and cursed again. Yep… This was a little girls place, not a grown up man's. He could even bet that he would be the only man in there!

Yami took his sunglasses of and shoved them into his pocket.

His deep crimson eyes scanned around the stable's yard. It was huge, sandy and little muddy. On the right side of the yard was a very big red barn-like building with huge black double doors. On the left side was a normal barn and on the ground was plenty of straw. In front of him was the actual stable building which was shaped like an L and had also black double doors that were all open.

Yami gave one long look towards the about ten or twelve year old girls who stood chatting and giggling in front of the doors. Great…

 _Bakura… I will so kill you…_ Yami's thoughts were full of poison when he began walking towards those doors, and the girls… Of course they spotted him immediately. They all went silent and Yami just wished he could just vanish out of sight.

He tried avoiding those staring eyes and just focused those doors. But man it was hard! Maybe they just thought he was one of those parents who wandered around the yard and looked bored to death.

The silence was heavy as a mountain when Yami stepped into the stables and looked around. The stables floor was made of concrete and the walls were red painted plank. The lights inside were dimmer than he had expected. Just enough to see but if you had wanted to read a book here, you would have gotten a headache. There were two corridors which had several box stalls each, on both sides of them. And there were horses… Many of them…

"Hello!" A cheerful woman's voice interrupted Yami's thoughts and he turned right and saw a tall, slender woman, who had long blond hair, green eyes and black pants with a blue t-shirt.

She tilted her head to the side and looked at Yami.

"You are new here, correct?"

Yami was only able to nod dumbfounded. The woman's enthusiasm was completely overwhelming.

"Sweet! Do you have any experiences on horses?"

Yami shook his head and raised his eyebrow.

"I don't have any", he admitted and he was far too aware of those little girls giggling about his 'deep baritone voice'. This was absolute fucking hell…

The woman only nod and extended her hand to him.

"I'm Lisa Ikeda and I'm one of the teachers. It's nice to get some boys to here. I'm sure you will do well. Do you want just get along with starters classes or do you want already get a season card?"

Yami felt like an idiot.

"A season card?"

"Yeh", Lisa gave a nod.

"It costs 250 and it will be cheaper than just getting one lessons at a time. It include a half a year of lessons. Does that sound good?" The woman raised her eyebrow and Yami started cursing in his mind. Damn bet's rules…

"That card sounds nice", he admitted and Lisa gave him a very bright smile.

"So", she got a some kind of card and wrote something on it.

"Here you go."

Yami took the card and gave her money in exchange. Why it just feels like he had sell himself to slavery?

Lisa gave a look to her watch.

"Okay, I can show you to the stables. The next lessons starts in fifteen minutes, but it's not your class yet. The starter's class will begin at eleven."

"Is it your class too?" Yami asked little alert.

"No", Lisa gave him a short laugh.

"I will introduce you to the teacher when our tour is over."

"So, lead the way", Yami uttered shortly. He would so strangle Bakura… Seriously? A half a year of total torment in public riding stables… When that bastard lost a bet next, he might just put him into a ballet class or something… And Malik as well…

Yami shook his head and at least tried to concentrate on Lisa's words. She showed him those two corridors with box stalls and told something of a few horses. Yami couldn't remember anything because all the horses looked just the same. And they weren't what he had been expecting… Seriously? Why were all of them just boring brown in color? Couldn't there be at least some black or even white horses? Yami gave a very long look to one brown horse who just stared back like a cow… Charming. Not at all like the horses in the movies.

"And there is the office and the saddle room", Lisa continued and Yami looked through the open door. On the left side was a small office with a table and a blackboard on the wall. On the blackboard were many names under time markings. Yami started to slowly understand it listed the horses and their riders on each lesson that day.

Lisa grabbed a chalk and wrote his name on one of the empty blocks, straight under the time 11:00.

"You can get Vito, he's a nice guy and can teach you all the basics."

Yami only nodded. The name didn't say anything to him. At least it was a stallion…

From the stable corridor they could hear a clipping sound as someone walked a horse. A box stall's doors were opened and then closed again. Yami gave a curious look towards the office's door and Lisa gave him a little smirk.

"Anything you'd like to ask me?"

"No", Yami answered simply and Lisa nodded.

"So, let's go meet your teacher then."

Yami got sudden chills when he followed Lisa to the corridor and towards one of the box stalls. The girls were now inside the stable and readying their horses. That sounded to included lots of giggling and gossips. Oh gosh… If he had thought he know everything about girls…

He was very happy when Lisa turned to a quieter corridor and walked towards one box stall where Yami could see movement.

Lisa stopped by the door and looked inside.

"Hi, I have a new students for you", she said to that someone who was with the horse. Lisa gave him a sign to come closer and Yami stepped up next to her and looked over the wooden gate.

Inside was a very, very big cream colored horse and the person who was grooming it.

Yami's first thought was that his teacher was a very short looking girl with a massive mass of gravity resistant tri-color hair. Much like his own, but tips were purple while his were red. The girl looked so tiny next to the huge horse Yami even worried that the horse could just accidentally trample her like a bug.

Lisa shot a look to Yami.

"Oh, I forgot to ask your name."

"It's Yami Sennen", Yami answered boldly, looking his fragile looking teacher who finally turned to look at them. Those brilliant amethyst eyes sparkled like diamonds when he, _he,_ smiled to Yami who tried to remember how to breath.

"Nice to meet you, Yami. I'm Yugi Muto. You can call me just Yugi."

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 _ **Thank you for reading! Please review so I can see how do you like that one^^**_ _  
_ _ **And I promise: next chapter will be much longer than this one.**_


	2. Chapter 2

**_Hello everyone! Thank you for your reviews, they are food for my soul^^_**

 ** _Like I promiced, this chapter is almost twice as long as the first one. I hope you like it^^_**

 _ **And as answer for you question, thor94, Yugi is a boy. This is only Yami's point of view...^^** _

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Yami was speechless. He had been so sure that there wouldn't be any other males in the stable. Even though Yugi was very girl like. He was a few inches shorter than Yami and that made him very short. Yami didn't know his age but he guessed it could be around twenty or at most twenty-two. Yugi was also very lithe but he wasn't be just thin. He had some slender muscles, just like Lisa.

His skin was extremely pale, like he hadn't seen the sun a single time in his life. He was even paler than Yami and maybe even Bakura! In his hair he had a few more golden wisps than Yami and those wisps lightly touched his face. Yugi didn't have any golden wisps that went upright like Yami's did.

He was wearing tight black pants and black boots with a blue jacket that was firmly shut. Yami could easily bet that whole outfit was cheaper than his own shirt alone.

Yami knew he just stared at that boy like an idiot but thankfully Lisa and Yugi focused on talking to each other.

"I have to go now," Lisa said just then and Yami was immediately alert.

"I gave him Vito. Are you all right?" Lisa asked suddenly from Yami, who could only nod like some kind of silly toy and watched stunned when she walked away. How on Earth could she think he would be all right with this girly looking boy? It was like someone had hit him right on the head.

"So..."

Yami almost jumped out of his skin when the boy suddenly started to speak to him. Yugi shot him a curious look.

"Is this your first time?"

Why did that sound so suggestive? Yami only nodded shortly, and looked at that lithe boy who was supposed to teach him to ride a horse.

"How long have you been riding?" The question just slipped out of Yami's mouth and he cursed in his mind.

Yugi looked surprised but smiled nevertheless.

"I have been riding since I was five. Almost twenty years."

Yami's eyebrows rose. Almost twenty years? So this 'kid' was about the same age as he. Though he didn't look like that at all.

Yugi came out of the box stall and dropped the brush from his hand into a basket that hung on the wall.

"So, Lisa gave you Vito, huh?" Yugi looked at him and Yami nodded.

"Good, he's a nice guy. Come. We need to pick up his equipment. Though your class doesn't start until eleven, but this is your first time so we need more time than other students."

"How many of them do you have?" Yami asked and just hoped that there weren't too many. Though even two would be too many…

"In your class I have six students plus you." Yugi's answer was pretty relaxed and he moved around the stables like that was his home.

They stepped into the saddle room and Yugi looked at him. Yami stared back at him, but his petite teacher didn't notice it.

"You have pretty good shoes," Yugi told him.

"That heel is necessary so your foot doesn't slip through the stirrup. Have all your clothes free to get dirty?"

"Yeah," Yami gave a nod and just felt stupid. He missed his video games already!

"Okay," Yugi clapped his hands and Yami flinched.

"All the horses have their own saddle, bridle and brushes. Vito's are here." Yugi showed the right place to Yami.

"If your horse is in the stable when you arrive for your lesson, you need to groom it first. Sometimes horses go two hours without a break so your horse might also be already in the riding court. But lets go, pick up that saddle. Be careful, it's heavy."

Yami pick up the saddle from its bar and gave a little grunt. It indeed was heavy! Yugi picked up the bridle and the brush box and led the way.

All the girls were gone now with their horses so the stable was peaceful and quiet.

"We have twenty-six horses here," Yugi told to Yami when they walked down the left corridor.

"Horses are either Icelandic horses or halfbreds, ponies are either Exmoor's ponies or Thai ponies. Vito is a Icelandic horse."

Yami's only hope was that Yugi hadn't noticed his totally blank stare. All those breed names were unfamiliar to him. And the worst thing was that Yugi sounded like everyone should know all those breeds… He hoped Yugi didn't ask his favorite breed or something. All his knowledge of horses was based on role playing video games or movies and it sounded like it was way too less than he had thought.

"This is Vito." Yugi's cheerful voice woke Yami from his thoughts and he looked at the horse. Said horse wasnothing like he had hoped. It was muddy brown in color with a darker brown mane. It was maybe just 150 centimeter high.

Yami noticed that Yugi was staring at him and he blinked.

"It's smaller than I expected," Yami gave a quick excuse. Yugi just chuckled.

"Maybe, but he is very strong so he will be able to carry you without problems. But he is very nice and gently too. Oh, you can put that saddle down here." Yugi tapped the box stall's gate lightly and Yami put the saddle on top of it, very relieved.

"Are you ready to start grooming?" Yugi smirked at him and Yami gulped.

"I'm nervous," he admitted and Yugi nodded.

"It is common. Just relax, I will show you all you need to know. Follow me." Yugi opened the gate and stepped inside. Yami followed him slowly and Yugi closed the gate again.

"Remember to always shut all doors and gates," he told Yami.

"Horses are very curious animals and could get themselves in trouble very easily."

Yami nodded and stared at Vito, who was looking at them. Yugi patted its neck and attached a long yellow rope onto the bridle-like thing and tied the other end up to the ring on the wall.

"This is a safety knot," Yugi told to him and showed how to make it very slowly.

"Why does it have to be that particular knot?" Yami asked.

"In case of emergency," Yugi answered simply.

"For example a fire in the stable. You only need to pull this end of the rope and the knot will open. Some horses know it too, so put this end of rope through this loop."

Yami raised his eyebrow but nodded. In his opinion Vito didn't look like one of those smart horses.

"Now you can start grooming," Yugi said and picked a very odd looking black rubber thing out of the brush box.

"What is that?" Yami gave a disgusted look to the thing.

"This is a massage currycomb. It activates horses' blood circulation. Start from the neck and rub in a circular motion." Yugi showed example and groomed Vito's neck the to left side. Then he turned and handed the rubber thing to Yami who almost ran away.

"You can do it," Yugi gave him a little encouraging smile.

"Just keep your touch light."

Feeling like he was dreaming a very strange dream, Yami continued grooming following Yugi's tips. Yugi had a very pleasant voice. It wasn't as deep as his but it was smooth and calming. Actually this wasn't so bad at all…

"Sensei?" The voice of a very young girl dropped Yami down from his own heaven.

"Here," Yugi replied and leant out of the box stall and looked at someone. Yami stared at him feeling horrified. He was not ready to meet his fellow students. They would probably laugh their heads off at the first sight…

"Um, who will I get today?" The girl sounded so shy. Probably only eight years old or something.

"Check from the board," Yugi advised and smiled gently. Then he turned and looked at Yami.

"You're doing well. I'm going to check other students. When you are ready with that soft brush, use this one." Yugi tapped the large brush with his index finger.

"You need to make light and long sweeps. When you are ready with it, call me. And of course if you have any problems." He tilted his head to the side.

"Anything you'd like to ask me?"

Yami wanted to scream that he didn't want to be alone, but he kept silent and nodded boldly. Yugi smiled and then left and suddenly all things felt much more difficult than earlier. But he definitely didn't want to face his fellow students just yet…

Vito chortled once and Yami glared at it.

"Shut up," he ordered it.

He could hear more voices when the stable was suddenly full of little girls again. And they bombard Yugi with their questions. That guy sounded to be those girls' hero or something. Yami smirked to himself and continued grooming

"Sensei, was Pomello outside?"

"Sensei, will we do some gallopinh today?"

And so on… Yugi answered calmly every single question and managed to keep all things under control far better than some original teacher.

Faster than Yami would have expected, all the girls were all over the stable getting their horses ready and chatting happily. They all sounded so cheerful and happy. Living their lives. Yami rolled his eyes and dropped the last brush back to the box.

Unsure what to do next, he peeked out of the box stall to the corridor and Yugi nodded to him, coming over.

"So, I just finished brushing," Yami told awkwardly. Yugi nodded.

"Last step will be cleaning the hooves." He picked up a tool from the box and showed it to Yami. It was a strange looking metallic hook with a steady handle.

"This is a hoof pick."

Yugi showed to him how to lift the horse's foot and clean all that dirt off.

"Some horses lifted their legs easily, some might be hesitant. You just need to be sturdy and don't let them know that you are new with this."

Sturdy? Yami needed to fight back his laugh. That was so hilarious word to came from someone who could been trampled by merely one-year-old babies. But it was Yugi's serious gaze that made Yami keep quiet. It was obvious that Yugi was not one of those persons who were easy to ignore.

Hell, this guy just effortlessly handled an animal that was easily maybe even one hundred times bigger than he was.

Yami took the hoof pick and finished with the rest of the hooves. When Yugi had showed this to him, it had seemed very light and easy but God how much those legs could weigh! Yami grunted when he straightened himself and dropped the hoof pick back to the box.

Yugi gave him an appreciative smile.

"Very good. After some time you will be very good with horses."

 _Yep… And pigs fly…_ Yami sighed very quietly and flinched when Yugi stepped to the corridor and raised his voice just a little. It wasn't even near a shout but the kind of steady, loud speak that everyone could hear from a distance.

"Everyone ready to saddle your horses?"

"Yes, sensei," all those girls chorused at once.

"Go get your saddles and if your need help, just ask," Yugi engouraged. Yami didn't know why. All those little devils looked like this was the happiest moment in their life.

Yugi turned towards Yami and pointed to the saddle.

"Pick it up and lift it straight here." Yugi tapped a place at Vito's back. Yami raised his eyebrow but did as told, gruntting from the weight of the saddle. It was difficult to place to the right spot but he managed to do it without dropping the saddle.

"Good," Yugi fixed a brown blanket under the saddle.

"Now I need to check on the other students. Just wait a second." He gave a reassuring smile to Yami and walked down the corridor.

Yami could hear him give some advice now and then. He could only wait and stared at Vito who stared back at him as if asking if he was nuts. Maybe… Or probably way more than just maybe. Yami sighed deep.

"Remember your gloves and wips," Yugi said from the corridor and all those girls hurried to the saddle room when Yugi came back to Yami.

"They are ready, so I can show you how to finish saddling."

Yami looked and listened only halfheartedly when Yugi finished Vito up for him.

"How old are they?" Yami asked suddenly.

"From eight to twelve," Yugi told him.

"Don't be afraid. They will adjust to you in no time."

"I'm not afraid," Yami said immediately.

"I'm just wondering why you haven't the starters' class for adults."

"Too few participants." It was a straight answer. Yugi looked sad for a while before he was back to his own cheerful self. He looked at his watch.

"It's eleven. We are going to the riding court in a line. I told the girls to go first so I will be able to help you."

"Thanks," Yami mumbled. Because he really needed more humiliation in front of those kids.

Yugi stepped to the corridor.

"Zay, you will go first. Then Olivia, Rennea, Paola, Viola and Donna. I will come last with our new student."

"Yes, sensei," the girls chorused and Yami facepalmed mentally. Bakura… That little piece of shit would be so sorry about this whole idea…

The corridor was suddenly full of clipping sounds and movement when those girls walked their ponies out of the stable. Yami counted all six of them before Yugi opened Vito's box stall's gate and handed Vito's reins over to Yami.

"Keep your right hand just below his mouth and your left hand at the end of the reins. And don't allow him to go before you. You are his leader now. If he tries, you can swing the end of the reins just in front of his head. Don't hit him, just show where the limits are."

Yami gulped and nodded. Yugi waved him out of the box stall and Yami walked his horse down the corridor for the first time in his life. Vito followed him without any rebellion and he was very relieved about that.

Yugi lead the way to the riding court. It was a big sandy area whit brown fences around it.

All the girls were already on the court, facing towards the stable and stared at him curiously. Yami just walked Vito to the middle of the court to the same line as others. If he just ignored those girls, maybe they would return the favor.

He and the girls watched Yugi when he closed the gate and walked towards them.

"You may rise to the saddle," he told them and nodded to Yami lightly when he stared at him.

It allowed Yami to relax at least a little. Yugi walked along the line and helped every girl into the saddle, fixing their stirrups and how they held their reins. Yami's turn was the last as his position was at the end of the line.

It was really weird to see how calm Yugi was when he walked to him. He was so at home amongst all these animals and girls that Yami couldn't help but think that Yugi was one of those guys who are girls in their minds. Althought he was dressed like a common guy and not in a skirt.

"You need to drop your stirrups," Yugi told him and Yami woke from his thoughts. He looked at Yugi, who dropped those metal things down.

"Now, lift your left foot onto the stirrup and grab a steady hold onto the saddle. I will be a counterweight at the other side so you can hop on Vito's back."

Easier said than done… Luckily Vito wasn't too high so after a few awkward one leg jumps Yami got himself onto the saddle and stared at Vito's neck and ears. It twisted them and Yugi patted it on the neck.

"Easy boy," Yugi smiled gently.

"Now," he continued to Yami and touched his shoe.

"Placed the stirrups under your toes and press down your heel. That's good," Yugi praised him when Yami had done it.

"Now gather your reins and hold them like this." Again Yugi showed him firsthand how to do that right. Yami tensed a little. It felt weird when a total stranger suddenly and openly touched him.

"Sorry," Yugi said immediately and smiled at him in apology.

"It's nothing," Yami mumbled and concentrated on the reins. The skin on his hands was tingling still.

Yugi walked to the center of the court.

"So everyone," he said out loud.

"We will be starting at walk so press your calfs to your horses' sides and head to the hoof trace."

One by one the girls and their ponies started moving and Yami did as Yugi had told. He pressed his calfs against Vito's hard sides and was very surprised when the horse actually started walking. He tensed up at to first but relaxed a little when he didn't fall off immediately.

Vito seemed to know what to do so Yami just tried to focus on keep himself in the saddle. The horse's back was a little thin and it felt like he was sitting on a thin plank.

"When you come to the corner," Yugi continued to them, "you need to make sure that your horse doesn't go the easy way. You need to press your inside leg tightly on their side and at the same time shorten the inside rein. Like you want to bend your horse around your leg."

Yami listened and then tried to do it at to the next corner. Vito swayed his head and ignored his command and took a shortcut across the corner. Yami cursed mentally and glared at the stupid animal. At least he hadn't been the only one with this problem.

"Sensei," one of those girls whined.

"Muffin doesn't listen to me."

Muffin? Yami didn't know whether to believe his ears or not. A horse named Muffin?

He looked at Yugi who walked on the court and focused on the girl.

"You need to be more determined, Paola," he told her.

"When you come to the next corner, ride Muffin out of the hoof trace and ride just beside the fence. Keep up pressure of your leg the whole time."

"Okay, I will try," the girl answered with an uptight voice.

Yami learned during that lesson that an uptight voice was quite common. Even he felt like Yugi was trying to kill him. Those sharp amethyst eyes saw everything and he didn't allow them to do things easy way. Yami swore, when they walked their horses to cool them down after the class, that he would kill the next person who claimed that riding was just sitting on the horses.

His legs were like boiled spaghetti, his ass was on fire and he wasn't sure that he could have children anymore.

It felt like heaven when he could stop Vito at the center of the court next to the small brown and white pony.

"You may come down," Yugi told them.

"Thank you all. Muffin, Stenny and Vito will continue to the next lesson. The rest go back to the stable. Remember to groom them well. I will come there and help you." Yugi smiled to all of them and girls thanked him all suddenly full of energy. Like someone had changed their batteries.

Yami grunted when he landed and almost fell on the ground when his legs didn't want to carry him.

A curious looking red-haired girl came to his side and took Vito's reins. She was probably fourteen years old.

"First time here?"

"Yeah," Yami muttered and hoped he could just vanish. The girl looked at him and smiled suddenly.

"I hope you will stay. It would be nice to have a common guy at the stable."

The common guy…? Yami just stared at the girl with blank eyes.

"You already have Yugi?" Why was he so different? Just why he didn't look like a girl?

"The common guy," the girl giggled and winked at him.

"Yugi's a god. Oh gosh. Just wait when you see him riding."

Yami's eyes widened a little when the girl went all fangirl about it. Holy hell… Were all these people crazy?

"Yah, sure..." He backed away slowly and all but ran away. Mostly because he couldn't run, just barely walk.

He saw Yugi go in to the stable with the rest of the little girls and their ponies. He looked just as calm as earlier and Yami gave a deep sigh and limped towards the sand road and his car.

Maybe there was a reason why Yugi looked like a girl so much… He just hoped that reason wouldn't infect him too…

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 _ **Please review! See you soon!** _


	3. Chapter 3

**Thank you all of you for your reviews! It really warmth up my heart when someone do that or start follow my story^^  
I hope you will like the next chapter as well.**

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Next morning was pure agony. Yami stared at his ceiling and hoped that he would have been hungover or dead. His whole body was just one big, cramping muscle. Every move hurt like hell.

He cursed and pushed himself up, sitting on his bed. His legs were on fire and the distance between the bed and the bathroom felt like the distance from the Earth to the Moon.

Thank God he lived alone! If someone had seen how he limped to the bathroom, he might have heard about it for the rest of his life.

He let hot water run into the bathtub and opened the mirror-covered closet to look at the pain meds. He drank them down with a lot of water and stripped off his night pants. It was pure pleasure to sink into hot water and just feel how even his bones started to warm up and relax.

Yami stayed in the bath until the water lost its warmth. Only then he rose and dried himself. His muscles were still sore and he was tired and felt like melting ice cream. A large yawn was interrupted when his phone rang.

"Yami," he grunted to the cell phone and heard Bakura laughing on the other end.

"You are alive!" Bakura teased him.

"You didn't come to the night club with us yesterday. Are you tired because all of those girls?"

"Shut up," Yami growled. He definitely didn't want to tell that bastard why he had stayed at home and gone to bed so early. Thank God Bakura and Malik hadn't paid him a visit or something…

Yami limped to the window and stared outside. His apartment was on the eleventh floor in one of Domino's highest buildings and the view was awesome.

"Got any chicks last night?" he asked from Bakura and smirked at the other man's laugh.

"I did but Malik didn't. He was flirting to one blond bitch, but she was already engaged. Her fiancé appeared out of nowhere and punched Malik straight in the face! You should have seen his face! He was totally baffled!"

"Nice," Yami smirked. Maybe that would hold Malik back next time… Or at least for the next five minutes…

"Are you going out today?"

"Nope," Yami answered and rolled his eyes.

"I need to finish my homework or my teacher will kill me tomorrow."

Bakura growled on the other end.

"You are too boring!"

"We are in the University, Bakura! We can't just lay on our asses."

"Why not?" Bakura smirked and Yami gave a deep sigh.

"Need to go. My stomach rumbled like a lion."

"Mmmhhmm," Bakura teased him.

"You stamina is pretty bad if some little horse-girls were able to tire you up."

"Shut up," Yami told him in an oh so friendly tone.

"Go nag to Malik."

"Oh, I will," Bakura smirked and the line went silent.

Yami shook his head and dropped his cell phone at the coffee table. Definitely food. Something very easy.

He limped into the kitchen and opened the refrigerator. Yoghourt and some cereal. Perfect.

The only sound in the room was the ticking of the clock on the wall when he ate his breakfast and planned what to do. That homework of course, but if he didn't get his legs into better shape, he wouldn't be going to the school tomorrow. Maybe just a little stretching would help? Seriously… One riding lesson couldn't hurt as much as an entire workout at a gym!

He put his dishes to the dishwasher and finally went to put some clothes on, other than just night pants or the bathrobe.

When he returned back to the living room, he was wearing casual black sweatpants and crimson dress shirtthe sleeves of which he had rolled up to his elbows. Not anything too fancy. He couldn't charm his homework to do itself. Yami smirked at that thought and sat down in his chair and started his black, very thin and light laptop on a worktable. A folder where all his homework was was straight at a back screen so he was spared from hunting it down amongst all his files.

A few very boring hours later his homework was done. How in Hell could his professor think that they would enjoy reading 500 pages full of shit and then write a treatise about it?

Yami massaged his scalp and shut his eyes for a moment. Thank God it was now done! This course was tortuous. Just a few more weeks left… For now that though didn't help at all.

Maybe he should pick up more of those English courses… Those were at least easy for him. And a good lawyer always needs good language skills.

Yami shut his laptop down and rose. A pained curse erupted in his apartment's silence when his ass and legs were trying to kill him. Holy shit!

Hissing in pain he lowered himself to the floor and tried to stretch his aching muscles. He was so stiff that he couldn't even reach his toes! Nice… He hadn't been that stiff in years! But… He had to admit… He hadn't stretched properly after that lesson yesterday. And now it was payback time.

He gave a very deep sigh and kept stretching a whole minute before changing position and the muscle. A few very painful moments later Yami rose up from the floor and hissed again. He was better but definitely not all good. He just gave up and dropped down on the couch and turn on a TV. This day was already ruined so why even try chance it?

As Yami had feared, Monday morning was a replay from Sunday and he knew why. Hell, even little kids knew that stretching should be done right after an exercise, not the day after! Yami took some pain meds and just hoped Bakura and Malik wouldn't laugh at him too badly for limping… Oh gosh, who was he kidding? He looked just like he had had a lot of rough sex during the weekend… While being the bottom.

His mood hadn't lightened even the slightest bit when he stretched again and then left from his apartment. Thank God roads were near emptysince it was so early. Yami looked at the car's clock. His first lesson would start at ten o'clock and he would arrive just in time. History of law wasn't his favorite course by far and of course it was on Monday morning… At least their teacher had a very good looking ass and a very tight skirt, so there was always something to stare at. Sometimes Yami thought that nobody would have picked up that course without that piece of meat in front of the classroom.

Yami chuckled to himself and turned left at the crossroad and head towards to the University. It was a huge area filled with large buildings for different studies. Some of them were brand new, some of them were straight from the 19th century. Like the History Academy that rose like an old castle-like mansion on top of a small hill. Yami's home building was one of those that were built in the late 20th century. It was all white and looked like some kind of hospital. And these were only two of many, many more buildings around the whole area.

Near by was also a students' village for those who had come from further away. That was a very restless area and, what he had heard, all of those serious students who got enough money moved out of there and got better apartments in the downtown or elsewhere.

Yami passed one yellow bus that headed towards the University too. It was probably full of students. Domino had invested in those bus routes so it wasn't necessary to own a car. Yami got chills even at the smallest thought that he would need to travel with all those students like sardines in a can.

It was so much easier to get your own car especially because the University had many parking areas and there were always free spots for students.

He parked his silver Jaguar and picked up his leather bag that was full of books and pencils. Yami threw it onto his shoulder and headed towards a familiar building. All this walking should have made his legs feel better, but he limped nonetheless.

"Oo, the almighty Yami has been fucked!" It was the first thing that came out from Malik's mouth and Yami glared at him murdeously. Bakura laughed.

"Shut up," Yami growled.

"Or I will beat living daylight out of you."

Malik smirked.

"In your condition? I doubt that!"

"Me too," Bakura snickered.

"But don't worry," he _comforted_ Yami with smirk on his face.

"We won't tell anyone that you got your ass beaten by six-year-old toddlers..."

Yami moved faster than Bakura had been expecting and crushed him against the wall.

"I told you," Yami growled.

"Shut UP!"

"Keep your pants on, man," Malik laughed but dodged instinctively when Yami glared at him.

"You heard that, man? Calm down." Bakura cursed when Yami dropped him down.

"Oh gosh, you are such suck fuckers when you lose."

"Say that again and you will soon think you are a poodle," Yami told him with sugary voice and a sick sweet smile on his face.

Malik snickered at Bakura's face.

They would have stayed there without all the other students who almost stomped them down when they hurried towards their doom (or lessons, whatever).

For a moment Yami was almost thankful about that boring as fuck lesson. At least he could keep his eyes shut and he didn't need to walk anywhere. Of course he regretted it in the end. When he rose up after the lesson, his muscles were all stiff like a damn rock.

This torture continued hour after hour. When the lunch beak arrived Yami was ready to head straight home and sleep for a whole year. His thoughts were so murderous that all other students left plenty of room around him when he walked towards the University's cafeterias Bakura and Malik hot on his heels.

It wasn't their ordinary cafeteria. That one had been shut down a while because of renovations. The cafeteria that they had picked as a second choice was a lot smaller and almost always full of nerds. It was quite awkward to sit by them and just watch them staring at their laptops or books that were thicker than The Great Wall of China.

At least they were quiet and the food was really good. Those things were the only reasons why they hadn't looked for another place. Well, they had tried once. Yami grimaced at the memory. The third place nearby had been full of extremely noisy sport fanatics who had been jumping on the tables just because some guy had made a goal.

After one stomped sandwich Bakura and Malik had put some emetic drug in those insane people's glasses. It had been quite hilarious, what they had heard because they hadn't wanted to stick around to see ir.

They joined a line and waited for their lunch. Yami looked lazily around the cafeteria. It was full of small white square tables. The walls and the floor had been made of old, grey planks and the ceiling was open, showed all those old round-shaped supporting beams.

The whole place looked like some kind of medieval tavern or something. Just like those places where all roleplaying games started. Yami rolled his eyes and looked at todays lunch.

"Great, fish fingers and mashed potatoes," Malik sighed.

"I hate potatoes."

"Ii would be fine if those fish fingers weren't like slimy snails," Yami muttered back.

"I can't understand why they serve us this baby food," Bakura grunted.

"Because of you," Malik said back immediately and Yami snickered at Bakura's deadly glare.

Yami picked up a brown tray and got his plate, glass and cutlery. He was filling his glass with water when a very familiar voice reached his ears.

"It was quite hilarious overall."

Yami's attention snapped to the end of to line where two fellow students just lifted their trays up and headed towards to the tables. Very familiar gravity-resistant tri-colored hair wasn't the most common sight in the college-area and Yami's heart jumped up to his throat. It was Yugi. How in hell that was even possible? He had studied here for almost three years now and now he stumbled upon that freaking pony-boy? Was he telling his friend something about Yami?

Yami glared at those two when they went to sit down by the window. Yugi's friend had long, white hair and skin as pale as Yugi's himself.

"Earth to Yami, Earth to Yami," Yami jumped a little when Bakura almost yelled into his ear.

"Take your fish fingers before they take you."

"Gees… Thanks about blowing off my ear drums," Yami grunted. He picked up a few fish fingers, almost dropped them to the floor when Yugi's giggles floated to his ears. Oh, great… Could earth just swallow him now? Yami could almost feel Yugi's eyes on his back, laughing at him.

All other noises felt like they were fading away when Yami tried to concentrate on Yugi's and his friend's conversation. He was able to pick up only a few pieces from here and there.

"… why was he there at all?" Yami heard that blond boy asking.

"… know. Maybe … but he was so lost looking… I just felt sorry for him…"

Yami didn't heard what that blond said but Yugi's reply was all clear:

"Yeah, he did his best but I don't think that he will be come a second time."

Oh, really? Had he been that bad? Yami ground his teeth and all but murdered the card machine when he paid for his lunch. He would show that arrogant little brat that he was a man and he didn't need his pity!

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 **Thanks for reading^^ Please, review!  
**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hello everyone and sorry for taking this long to upload. I just need to get a new beta. So you can say hi and thanks to King of Doors, who kindly fixed all my typos^^  
**

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Yami didn't get a chance talk to Yugi during that day. He didn't want to tell Bakura and Malik that his riding teacher was a guy and also looked better than several girls in their courses. Uh, no, not that way! Yami glared at his own reflection at the mirror in the school's bathroom and sighed.

Today was Thursday and his second riding lesson would be in the same time on Saturday morning. Yami dragged his fingers through his hair. At least his muscles didn't hurt anymore and he would definitely stretch straight after that lesson. He didn't want to make that mistake again!

Yami sighed and looked at his cell phone's clock.

Today's final period started in fifteen minutes. It was an elective course about famous lawyers and their cases and Yami liked it a lot. The course was giving them their first hands on experience with cases, or at least as hands-on as it would be in school. During the next summer they would do some training in actual workplaces and Yami couldn't wait. He wanted to be done with school and finally do that which he wanted to do. Ah, he needed to start asking the training places before all the good ones were taken.

Yami turned the tap off and walked out the door, opened it. Immediately he froze still and just stared. Yugi stood at the middle of the hallway and waved to someone far end to it.

"You're welcome!" Yugi shouted, just as cheerful as he had been at the stable. "It wasn't a big deal."

"What are you doing here?" Words that were running away from Yami's lips caused Yugi to almost jump out of his skin and he turned towards him. His smile faded a bit in confusion, but then it lit up again.

"Yami!" he greeted him."I didn't know that you are in the University too."

"I wasn't aware that you are here," Yami answered bluntly, remembering all too well Monday's conversation between Yugi and his friend.

Yugi tilted his head to side and looked at Yami curiously.

"So, you are studying…?"

"Law," Yami answered and he raised his eyebrow."And you?"

"Ah, just cultural history," Yugi waved his hand.

Cultural history? Yami hadn't had expected that one. Veterinarian or something that focused on animals, but history? He started to ask about it, but Yugi was faster.

"Are you coming again on Saturday?"

Those bright amethysts eyes stared at Yami like there wasn't a tomorrow.

Yami growled at that.

"I wasn't giving up if you were expecting that."

"Why would I do that?" Yugi looked confused.

"I heard you," Yami told him, glaring at Yugi's asking eyes, daggers in his gaze."On Monday."

"Huh?"

"At the cafeteria," Yami specified, becoming a bit irritated.

Yugi was silent awhile, and then he seemed to get it.

"Ah, that conversation! I didn't know that you were there, but we weren't talking about you."

Yami raised his eyebrow, suspicious and Yugi nodded, smiling a little.

"It was all about some new guy in our Ancient course. He was so lost… I don't even know if he was even studying anymore."

Yami heard sympathy in Yugi's voice and finally nodded simply.

"Okay."

There was a tense silence and Yami shuffled his weight from leg to another.

"So, about Saturday…" He gulped. "I will be there."

"That is wonderful Yami," Yugi praised him. There was a little hesitation and Yami noticed that Yugi was scanning his clothing that were all but cheap brands."Hmm, are you okay being with the little girls?" Yugi bit his lower lip and looked quite unsure.

"Yeah, I will be," Yami answered little too quickly and Yugi raised his eyebrow at him. Yami mentally cursed that fucking bet and Bakura and Malik.

"If you say so," Yugi nodded and hesitated a little. "I need to go. My school day is over."

Yami nodded and looked at Yugi when he started walk down the hallway. Yami hesitated biting down his lower lip.

"Yugi!" He called after him and Yugi stopped, turning around.

"What?"

Yami cursed mentally.

"Please, don't tell anybody."

Yugi looked totally puzzled.

"Why would I need to tell? It's not my business." He lowered his gaze."It would be nice to be able to speak about the horses with someone outside the stable."

"You can't speaks with your friend?" Yami sounded just as surprised as he felt. Yugi laughed a bit.

"Ryou loves animals, but the horses are too big for him. He didn't really scare them but it was close, so..." Yugi sighed. "I really need to go now. See you at Saturday!"

He waved his hand to Yami and jogged down the hallway. Yami just stared after him, speechless. For some odd reason, he just could imagine that if those girls from the stables had been here now, they would be melted on the floor.

Later that evening, Yami's phone rang. He stared at the familiar name on the screen and sighed.

"Yeah?" he answered with a very annoyed voice. There was sort silence at the other end and then one short chuckle.

"Some little birds chirped that you have got a new hobby," his cousin, Seto, smirked and Yami cursed mentally.

"So, you and Bakura have started gossiping like old ladies?" Yami mocked back, grinded his teeth. "I thought you didn't speak to each other."

"We don't," Seto answered. "I just got some very informative text messages from him..."

"I don't want to know what you think when you're masturbating, Seto," Yami interrupted him. Seto just laughed.

"Don't be so angry, cousin," he teased. "At least you have plenty of girls around you..."

"Speak for yourself, Priest," Yami snarled back. It did very little to Seto's laughing.

"So, Yami," Seto smirked. "Are you planning to participate in the riding competitions?"

"Riding competitions?" Yami startled. There were… competitions?

"You didn't know there were competitions? Such a competitive person like you? Shame… But I'm sure you would lose eventually."

"I don't lose ever!" Yami snarled back.

"Are you sure?" Seto smirked. "Maybe you could participate in some of those pony races when you are stop falling off..."

"Shut up," Yami snarled.

"Whatever," Seto chuckled. "If I were you, I'd have been watching some videos about your new hobby, but you have always liked running straight into the wall head first."

Yami knew that Seto liked teasing him, but the guy could be even worse asshole than Bakura when he felt like it!

"I know what I'm doing, cousin," Yami snapped back.

"Yeah yeah," Seto waved his words off. "I need to go. This company didn't run itself."

"Yeah," Yami rolled his eyes.

"Bye."

He dropped his cell phone back the table and stretched a little. Seto was always busy with his gaming company. Being CEO such a young age was difficult, but the challenge suited Seto very well. At least then when he wasn't being a total asshole.

Yami leaned back and stared at the ceiling. Seto's words echoed in his mind. A riding competition? He didn't know there were people that could actually race with those animals. He lowered his gaze and started up his computer. This was a good time to solve some mysteries. Before he looked totally freaking stupid in front of Yugi.

Google's page opened in front of him and Yami started looking some answers. Even the simplest searches found him multiple links and Yami cursed. There were riding competitions even in the Olympics? Nice… And there weren't just one type of competition with horses… Yami stared at the list of different types of races around a world. Gallop races, trot races, jumping competitions, dressage competitions – what even was that? - and the list went on and on… He started to get a serious headache. Now it was so clear why Seto had been so amused by his ignorance.

Yami shut down all the pages and sighed. It would be nice to participate in some competitions. It couldn't be that difficult! Just hard training. Maybe he could ask about it from Yugi. That little guy probably hadn't ever competed, but he could give Yami some tips.

He smirked at his own thoughts. Bakura's and Malik's faces would be priceless.

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 **Thanks for reading. Be kind and drop a review so I know what you like^^**


	5. Chapter 5

**Hellou everyone and thanks for your reviews! It's always so wonderful to know what you are thinkg at my fic and even want to spent some time to write those comments^^**

 **And special thanks to my wonderful beta King of Doors^^**

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Saturday morning came quickly, but this time Yami was ready for his next challenge. His steps were quicker as he walked down the sand road and arrived at the stable.

He was a bit earlier than the last week, so he arrived at the same time as a group of familiar looking girls and their parents. It was purely impossible not to hear what they were talking about. Yami rolled his eyes. Why would it be so exciting to have a horse from the stable to groom in their free time? Those girls talked to someone who did get her 'own' horse and if it was possible for a human to turn green for pure jealousy, those girls would have been the first in line.

This time Yugi stood at the stables doors and greeted all of them. He was as cheerful as last week and those girls all fought for his attention. Yami sighed and waited impatiently while Yugi managed to give a pony to each of those girls and they run inside to start grooming.

"No running inside the stable," Yugi's stern voice had the effect of someone pushing a still button. Every one of those girls froze. They looked so guilty as they apologized quietly before they almost sneaked away. Yami bit back his snicker and looked at Yugi.

"You have a steel strong hold on them."

Yugi smiled gently: "They just need some support outside of their home. I'm not their dad, so they don't have to rebel against me."

Yami raised his eyebrow. Yugi sounded much older than his age.

"How long you have been teaching?"

"Hmm," Yugi squinted his eyes and looked somewhere from distance. "About three or four years now. Why?"

"You just sounds so certain with what you say."

Yugi laughed.

"Well, I tried my best," Yugi said, his eyes full of sparkles. "Ready for your second lesson?"

"I think so." Yami grimaced mentally.

"Good. You can take Darkie. She's a very gentle mare so I'm sure you can handle her."

"Sure," Yami ignored his urge to roll his eyes. "Where is she?"

"I can show you," Yugi nodded and waved him to follow.

Darkie was dark brown Icelandic horse with a very thick mane and big eyes. Yami's first thought was that the horse looked like someone had dipped it into melted dark chocolate.

"Do you remember what you learned last week?"

Yami looked at Yugi with a very sarcastic look. He definitely didn't need anybody patronizing him.

"I think I can handle this. If I need help, I will ask for it."

"Okay," Yugi smiled and walked away so casually that Yami bit back urge to curse aloud. He had forgotten to ask about the competitions. Maybe he could ask after the lesson. When all those prying girls would be gone.

Yami started grooming his own horse and was slightly surprised when it went smoothly enough. At least nothing blew up…

Yugi's voice carried to his ears.

"When you are saddling, remember that you must leave enough of room for four fingers between a saddle belt and the horse's stomach."

Yami rolled his eyes and tightened Darkie's saddle belt. How on Earth could those little kids even pull hard enough to get that belt all the way around? Yami dried his sweaty hands and then tried fit his fingers between the belt and soft fur. Yep. He thought that was enough…

Yami listened to Yugi's voice as he was talked with some of those girls, giving some advice or just chatting casually.

He is acting like he's their big brother or something, Yami thought, trying to remember how to put the bridle on. Darkie looked at him like he was the biggest idiot on Earth. Nice.

"Need some help?"

Yami almost dropped the bridle when Yugi's voice suddenly appeared right next to him. His eyes snapped up and Yugi just tilted his head to the side curiously. Yami grimaced.

"No," he answered bluntly and returned to stare the bridle like it would be an answer to all of those big questions. Like 'Why am I here?'.

"Okay," Yugi shrugged his shoulders and started to walk away.

"Wait," Yami said before he could stop himself.

"I… need some… help."

"Sure," Yugi smiled at him and stepped inside the box stall without hesitation. Yami cursed mentally. Did that smile ever falter? Even just a little?

It didn't take long to strap all the equipment on Darkie and Yugi looked at Yami.

"It's important that you leave room for two fingers under that muzzle strap," he showed what he had meant to Yami and put his fingers under the strap. Yami nodded, mentally noticing how much thinner Yugi's fingers were than his own.

"And under the jaw strap must have enough of room for the whole fist." Yugi showed again and Yami tried to remember that. If someone had come to tell him a month ago that there were so many things just to get your horse ready for riding, he would have told that guy to go check himself by some kind of therapist.

"Thanks," Yami muttered when all was done.

"No problem," Yugi nodded to him.

Yami opened his mouth to ask about those competitions when one girl with big green eyes and red hair emerged at the door.

"Sensei..." The girl's voice was a mere whisper.

"What? Something wrong, Paola?" Yugi's voice was full of sympathy.

"Muffin stomped on his reins and I don't know what to do."

"You need to push him," Yugi told her. "I will come with you so I can show you."

"Thank you, sensei," the girl's eyes lit up like Christmas lights.

They walked away and Yami swore that the girl looked very pleased with herself. Girls… He rolled his eyes and just waited for Yugi's order to go out.

This time he was in the middle of the line that went to the riding court. Darkie followed slowly, but he didn't give her the opportunity to stop.

At the court, Yami tried desperately to remember all the things about mounting and a few tries later, he managed to get himself on the saddle. Yami didn't even know if he would need to roll his eyes or just laugh his own satisfaction.

"Good work," Yugi praised him when he arrived at Yami.

"I'll just check that your stirrups are good."

"They feel just a little bit too short," Yami admitted and Yugi nodded.

"They are. Let your legs hang so I can show you how you can fix them by yourself."

Yami looked at Yugi but obeyed and let his legs hang loosely all the way down.

"Yes, now move your leg just a little bit back so I can get that buckle on sight." Yugi's fingers weres already on the saddle and alarming close at Yami's groin. Yami stared at him with wide eyes. Just in time he managed to stop himself from asking what in Hell Yugi was doing because Yugi looked like he had no idea what it looked like. Yami didn't have that kind of privilege and his inner thigh tingled every time Yugi accidentally touched it. It was so unnerving to watch Yugi when he tightened that strap again and pushed the buckle under the saddle's leather. He frowned and bit his lower lip, eyes focused on the buckle like it was the only thing on Earth.

 _Look just a little bit higher,_ Yami thought and then froze at his own thoughts. What the Hell? Had he been that long without sex that even accidentally being touched by a guy was good enough? Holy shit… He really needed to go to a nightclub tonight. No excuses.

Yami forced himself to concentrate on what Yugi was doing but honestly, he couldn't remember much of it when Yugi backed off and nodded to him.

"Much better that way, isn't it?"

"Yep," Yami answered absent-mindedly and picked those stirrups with his leg. Yes, his position was more steady now but his thighs were still tingling like he had sat on an ant's nest. He looked at Yugi when he walked help the next girl and Yami gave a deep sigh when he collected the reins.

 _Yep, I definitely need some sex. Seriously, body, he doesn't look that much like a girl!_ His body definitely didn't listen. Even his eyes rebelled against his will and kept following Yugi's every movement around the court.

"Let's start warming up," Yugi told them and Yami pressed his calves against Darkie's sides. He actually needed to do it twice before Darkie really moved forward. Compared to Vito, she was definitely lazier but her steps were more comfortable.

Yami heard Yugi's voice as he refreshed some things all of them. Like riding all the corners and keeping a good distance from the other pony.

"It's a fact that some horses have longer steps than others so keeping your distance isn't that easy. If it is necessary, you could ride in a circle. That is what we will be training today."

Yami noticed that Yugi looked at them with a frown on his face. As if he was calculating if they were ready for the next step.

"Riding in a circle is one of the basic things you learn. It can help you in more than one way. It could create more space between two riders, it could stretch a horse's sides and build up more agility and balance. It could also help you remind the horse that it needs to concentrate. Now, since we just started training them, you can start at the corner. When you ride to the corner and the long side of the court is ahead of you, keep that bent that you make at the corner. You might need to shorten the inner rein and push more on your outer calf. But remember, also support that movement with your inner calf. You can ride big circles for now as you just learned how to do it. When your circle is done, you will return to the hoof track and continue forward until you come to the next corner. You can start at your next corner now."

 _Holy shit_ , Yami thought, focusing on the next corner and looked at some girl trying to ride said circle. Her pony waved his head but made some kind of… oval or an apple?

"Good," Yugi praised and the girl beamed like an idiot. Yami shook his head and tried to concentrate on his own task. When he arrived at the corner, he did everything just like Yugi had told him, but man it was hard! It really felt like he was trying to bend the whole horse around his leg and keeping it was even harder. Darkie didn't cooperate at all. She would rather keep going down the hoof track than do anything he was commanded. Stupid bastard! Yami growled aloud and somehow managed to make that fucking circle. It was not perfect, far from it, but at least it was done! For now… The next corner was straight ahead of him and Yami felt several sweat drops fall down his back. Yugi praised him as well but Yami couldn't help but feel that was just what he was used to saying. After all, he was a teacher.

After many painful attempts, Yami was ready to run for his life but the lesson wasn't over yet.

"That went well, all of you," Yugi told to them cheerfully and Yami cursed under his breath. Yugi should try climbing on the saddle all by himself and then they could see how cheerful he would be…

"Now," Yugi started with a tone which made all students around the world feel chills. It was totally too happy and sounded like a teacher that knows how tired they all are and will enjoy himself when he makes them do something more.

Yugi walked by the court's fence and picked up some street cones which he put about half way at the whole court, slicing the court in the two sections.

"I will call you one by one on this side of the court. The rest of you will stay there and keep up a steady walk. As your space just shrunk, you'll need to make more circles so you don't crash into the other riders."

Yami could not help noticing that all those girls looked excited and full of energy. Oh gosh… Maybe that was the reason why adults didn't ride. Only a child could have enough energy and pure stupidity to do that…

"Donna, you can come first," Yugi called out and the blond girl turned her cow-like pony to the other side of the court. Yami tried to concentrate on his own horse, but it was impossible not to notice that Yugi would have all of them try to trot. And, based on what he was seeing with Donna's attempt, it was not an easy task.

Yami was quietly amused when a very tired-looking Donna come back. And… Of course, Yugi then called him.

"Yami, would you come second?"

No, if he had a choice but he didn't, so Yami turned Darkie out of the side of the court and walked towards Yugi, who clicked some very long leash onto Darkie's bit ring. Just like he had done with Donna.

"It would be much easier to learn a new gait when you ride with a leash," Yugi told him and Yami simply nodded.

"What now?"

"Just start walking. You don't need to do anything, because the leash will make Darkie do a big circle."

Yami did as told and started rode that big circle around Yugi.

"Remember to always look right ahead of you," Yugi told him. "If you need to check that you're keeping your reins held properly, you can do it faster. Your head is quite heavy so if it isn't in a straight line with your backbone, it will disturb your horse's movements. Also it is quite common that you will fall off where you are looking at. So if you look between your horse's ears, it's quite impossible to fall off."

Yami couldn't help snickering at that. Yep, it would be impossible to fit between those ears. Yugi flashed his smile to him and Yami calmed himself down quickly. He wasn't here to enjoy himself. He was here to cover that fucking bet and win some those competitions that Seto had mentioned. Nothing more. Yami noticed from the corner of his eyes that Yugi looked confused and frowned a little but didn't ask anything. Good.

"You're sitting quite well", Yugi told to him and Yami almost felt his gaze wandering around his body.

"Shorten your reins just a little bit and gave to Darkie half-halt."

"What?" Yami stared confused at Yugi who just nodded and continued.

"Half-halt tells to the horse that something is coming so it could be prepared. All that you need to do is keep your reins short enough that you feel your horse's mouth. Then you simply pull your little finger just enough that the horse feels it."

"That's all?" Yami felt a little stupid when he did as told. Darkie didn't even notice, or so it seems but Yugi looked happy.

"Now we are ready to try a trot."

 _Or not_ , Yami mused and took a deep breath. Darkie's ears twisted like she was waiting for his signal.

"Just push on her sides like when you wanted to start walking", Yugi advised him and Yami nodded. Subconsciously he stiffened up when he pushed his legs against Darkie's side. Nothing happened.

"Try again", Yugi sounded totally calm, like it had been obvious that he would fail. Yami ground his teeth and pushed, this time harder. And again he felt like a total idiot. Yami literally tried pushing the lazy pony forward with his legs and suddenly it worked! Darkie started to trot and Yami's good mood about his successful faded faster than a shooting star.

He forgot all basic things and just grabbed hold of his saddle's front arch and prayed for his life. Darkie's trot felt like you were tied to sit onto a fucking street drill.

"You need to straighten your back." Yugi's voice was too much of a distraction to Yami. He couldn't even think about asking because next thing that he knew, he was he sitting on the ground like a little chick that had fallen from its nest. He blinked and felt heat on his cheeks. Shit… Shit, shit, shit and shit… Why couldn't the ground just split open and swallow him _now_?

"Are you alright?" Yugi's voice, full of concern, was able to catch Yami's attention. Those big amethyst eyes stared at him like he would start to cry any minute. In his dreams…

"Yeah, I'm okay," Yami muttered and rose up. His hip had taken almost all damage and he was sure that there would be a huge bruise in the evening. He even limped a little, nice… Yami cursed mentally and dusted off his pants. If he had fallen off just a little bit later, he would have landed straight onto a pile of horse poo. What a nice possibility.

"Ready to try again?"

Yami's gaze snapped back to Yugi who only tilted his head and looked at him, waiting for his answer.

"I was not that fond of falling off", Yami said bitterly. Then he could only stare. He didn't know it was possible that Yugi's eyes could get any bigger than they were normally. Apparently, he had been wrong.

"Nobody likes to fall off," Yugi's look was concerned and caring. "But if you gave up now, you might start to be scared of horses and riding."

"I'm not scared of anything." Words slipped out Yami's mouth before he could catch them back.

 _Ugh, I had a chance get out of this Hell_ , he cursed silently. He could almost see the opportunity laugh at him as it flew away. He was forced to face Darkie once more when Yugi walked the mare to him.

He didn't say a word when he hopped onto the saddle and collect the reins. It was possible that Darkie sensed his sour mood, because she started walking much faster and easier than earlier.

Yugi watched him like a hawk but that was much less discomforting than all those girls staring at him. He was surprised that they bothered pretending like they were following Yugi's order to ride circles.

This was so humiliating. He didn't want to know what those girls were thinking right now.

Yugi's words interrupted Yami's self-torture.

"Now, if you are ready, try again to raise a trot. Remember, keep your back straight and keep your legs steady like you would want to hug Darkie with them. You can keep hold of the saddle's front arch if it helps you."

Yami rolled his eyes but did as he was told and tried to raise Darkie to a trot once more. This time the movement didn't surprise him and Yami grabbed hold to steady himself on the saddle while Darkie's trot tried to shake his brain out of his head. Surprisingly, when he did as Yugi had said and hugged his legs around Darkie's round belly it helped at least a little. Still, it didn't help him to feel less like an idiot, trotting circles around Yugi and just hoping that this torture would be over soon.

Finally, Yugi gave him permission to slow down and Yami pulled his reins and Darkie started to walk again. Another pull and the mare stopped.

"It went well." Yugi praised him like he hadn't fallen off like a rotten apple.

"If you say so," Yami said bitterly. Yugi patted his left thigh and Yami glared at him for nothing because Yugi was too busy taking off the leash to notice anything else.

"You could go now," he told him and patted Darkie's neck just like as he had been doing with Yami's thigh. There was something totally wrong with this guy… Yami rolled his eyes and escaped eagerly, letting Viola took his place in the torture ring.

The last part of the lesson was over soon and Yami was relieved when he could drop down and focus on standing on his own legs. Or at least he thought they were legs, bone and all, because they felt like over boiled spaghetti.

He could barely focus on Yugi's voice when he told which horses were staying and which ones were going to the stable. A little whine escaped from Yami's lips when he heard that Darkie would be going back to the stable. He was way too dead to groom it again!

Somehow he was able to walk the mare out of the court and back her own box stall.

He had removed the saddle and bridle and started grooming when Yugi walked to the door and leaned against it.

"Are you sure that you are okay?" he asked. "That was a really nasty fall."

"Thanks," Yami said bitterly. "I'm totally okay. One bruise won't kill me." And if Yugi would ask one more time, he would show just how much his ego was broken…

"Oh, okay."

Yami could help but smirk at Yugi's confused voice. "I'm not a twelve-year-old girl, remember?"

"Of course you're not," Yugi said back quickly. He hesitated a bit. "I'm not used to teaching adults so I'm sorry if I sometimes speak to you like you're a kid."

Yami shrugged his shoulders.

"I understand," he assured, looked at Yugi who had just waved his hand to girls who were ready to leave.

"They leave this soon?" Yami assumed that his voice must have sounded a bit confused because Yugi laughed softly. It was a little odd sound as Yami was used to Bakura's and Malik's mocking laughter.

"Not really. Some yes, but rest the of them just go to watch the next lesson. Riding is probably the only or at least one of the very rare hobbies that you can learn as much by watching as doing it by yourself."

"Ah," Yami answered like a true Einstein and shook his head.

"Do you also teach riders who are more experienced?" Yami cleaned Darkie's brush and looked at Yugi who nodded.

"Yes. I have this starter' class and three more experienced classes, and also a few private students who want to train for competitions. I just do my best with them but I like kids." Yugi smiled to Yami like an angel who had escaped out of some painting.

"Training for competitions would be fun too, but those little kids are able to just enjoy about everything."

Yami stared at Yugi and felt like the whole world had stopped.

"You teach somebody to participate in competitions?"

"Yeah," Yugi tilted his head curiously. "You sound surprised. Why?"

Yami muttered something. He was way too surprised about that information.

Yugi had been watching him.

"Are you interested in competitions?" he asked suddenly and Yami almost jumped off his skin.

"Wha? Hmm, yeah," he admitted sheepishly. Against his expectations Yugi didn't laugh at him, he just nodded.

"It's good to have some goal ahead." He smiled. "But I need to say that you can't learn that much about riding if you only ride once per week." All cheerfulness faded of Yugi's eyes and he was suddenly serious as heart attack.

"Think about it," he advised. "If you want to take that road, we can speak more about it at school or before the next week's lessons."

Yami nodded and Yugi said goodbyes and left. Yami was deep in his thought as he finished grooming and put every piece of equipment back in their own places.

He would definitely need to think about it. And… Maybe extra lessons with Yugi wouldn't be that bad… Nggg, what?

Yami hit himself on the forehead and walked down the sand road, aching muscles almost forgotten.

* * *

 **Thanks for reading! Please, leave a comment. They are balsam to my soul^^**


	6. Chapter 6

**Hellou everyone and humble thanks for your reviews^^ It's so inspiring to read them, even if they are short.  
The next chapter is here *trying not to sing anything from The Phantom of the Opera*. Ehem... But anyway. Great thanks for my beta King of Doors who shot down all those stupid typos. *applause***

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Some cars passed by and their lights lit up Yami's ceiling for just a short moment. Then it returns to the color of dark gray. Yami sighed and switched his position on the bed. His one-night companion had just left and the apartment was silent. Normally Yami wouldn't have sent a girl out right after sex but this time… She had been good looking and sex had been great but… Normally he would be in bliss and sleepy but now his thoughts wandered around like a lost sheep. Like the sex hadn't satisfied him completely.

Yami raised his head and glared at the clock. 3:25am. Thank God tomorrow would be Sunday or he would be so dead. On the other hand, he would be dead anyway if he didn't manage to get at least some sleep. He grunted and turned onto his side, facing the wall and shutting his eyes decisively. He was way too old not to know how important sleeping was. So, what the Hell was this teenage brain doing inside his head? Maybe he should put a 'lost and found' notice on internet so those who owned this stupid gay-brain could find it.

Bright amethyst eyes emerged from darkness of his closed eyelids and Yami startled out his doze. Gods! This was getting weirder and weirder! He was not gay so why was it so hard not to think of those eyes and that smile that was bright enough to light up the whole Universe? Maybe someone had put something into his drink… It was only logical reason. Yami gave a deep sigh and sat up, staring at the wall on the other end of his bedroom. It seems that he wouldn't get any sleep this night… Maybe, if someone had indeed put something into his drink, he only needed to eat something and just wait for the drug's effect to fade away. Sounded like a plan.

Yami rose from his bed and rubbed his eyes. Lack of sleep hurt them and he didn't want to put lights on so he only lit up a dim light in his living room and turned even that more dimmer. Just enough to walk without hurting himself. Feeling like a crap, Yami walked straight to the refrigerator and opened it. The bright light made him flinch and squint his eyes before he was able to reach some ingredients for a sandwich. Then, when the sandwich was ready, he grabbed a glass of orange juice and sat down at his work desk. The lights of the sleeping city were amazing from the view beyond his windows but he barely looked at them. Instead, Yami looked at his laptop and finally turned it on with a sigh. He could spend some time on the internet while he waited for his head to clear up.

Thoughts about Yugi continued nagging at him and Yami rubbed his temples. Why was that guy so hard to forget? Sure, he had shown him a great treat – competition – and Yami admitted that he was a little crazy about them and winning, but… He didn't even like horses or riding, did he?

Yami cursed, burying his head in his hands. Who was he kidding? He liked it, he liked it a lot. Even if he didn't like those little girls, he liked grooming the horses and he liked the way Yugi taught. And he liked Yugi anyway. It would be nice to have more time with him, learn more about the horses, riding and Yugi.

A little smile crept it's way up to his lips. Yugi had said that Yami would take private lessons… Sure they must be much expensive than normal group lessons but he had money. Maybe he could take a chance and call to the stable in the morning. Yami tapped the stables name into Google and checked. Yep, it would be open tomorrow, which was reasonable as so many people were only able to enjoy their hobbies on the weekends.

Yami spotted one link on the pages and his eyebrows jumped up. There were introductions on all the stable's teachers? Great!

Feeling like a stalker, Yami clicked the link and smirked at the page. There was a small picture of all the teachers, including three of them that Yami hadn't seen at once. Yugi was the only male and he was smiling at the picture. It wasn't one of those really big smiles that Yami had see at the stable when Yugi was overly happy when someone managed to do something right and improve himself, but it was warm and welcoming and Yami didn't sit here and analyzing one stupid picture… Argh! Yami hit at himself on the forehead and just clicked Yugi's photo to open his page. There was the same picture a little bigger size and a short introduction below it. It looked like Yugi had written it himself.

Hello, my name is Yugi Muto and I'm the one of the Sunlight valley stable's teacher. I'm 25 years old and I have been riding since I was five so I have plenty of experience. I have participated in competitions and I work at the stables as the competition trainer.

I also teach the very beginners so don't be afraid to ask my help for anything. I'm willing to give you advice on anything from competitions to basic grooming and even if you have been thinking to buy your own horse.

I hope I will see you at the stable!

Yami grimaced at himself while reading the introduction and shook his head. So, it was public knowledge that Yugi was a competition rider. Too bad there wasn't a record if he had won some prizes. Or even what kind of races he had participated in. Frowning, Yami tapped Yugi's name at Google and made a search. He didn't expect a lot so he was a little surprised when he got several links, also to Youtube. Raising his brow, Yami clicked on the first video. It opened and after a few seconds of loading, the video started to play. It was showing the empty court with a very shallow white fence around it and a few flower bushes decorating it. Yami looked at video's name: The Kanto's region championship 2015. Championship? Whoah, he had thought that Yugi had participated in much lesser competitions.

The female voice was calling from to video.

"And next rider is Yugi Muto from Domino."

The music started playing. It was a classical piano symphony that Yami didn't know more. He was much more interested in Yugi, who trotted into the court. He wore black attire with a white shirt and his horse was all white, almost silvery in the color. Yami's eyes widened. That was definitely not one of the stable horses. That one was much more like those in the movie, and more… It raised its legs higher and its nose almost touched its chest like it was full of proud. Long silvery mane vowed amongst the movement and the horse's tail was carried high like a flag.

Yami stared at the show in awe. It looked like Yugi didn't do anything and still his horse did all those awesome movements without any problem. He didn't even know that horses could do all those things! It was like totally another world from what they did in the lessons. The show was over and Yugi stopped at the center of the court and bowed to the jury. The applause stormed all around the court and Yugi patted his horse when they walked out of the court. Yami was able to see a little smile on Yugi's face before the video stopped.

He leaned back and shook his head. Holy shit… Now he understood why the girls from his first lesson had been so excited about Yugi. To be able to ride like that was definitely not something just for little girls… He would be sure that Bakura and Malik didn't know about that or they wouldn't have chosen this one for his punishment. Yami smirked and gulped his juice down. He felt much better. Maybe he could get some sleep now. He yawned and shut his laptop down before taking his dishes back to the kitchen and just dropping them down to the sink. He would clean them up tomorrow. Another, much bigger yawn escaped his lips and Yami turned lights down and stumbled to the bed. Just a minute later he was fast asleep.

It was midday on Sunday when Yami finally woke up. He sat up on his bed and felt like he was hit by a car. Or a road roller. Surely this hangover wasn't as bad as it could be... Most likely because he had eaten at night. Still, he didn't want to do anything but took a long shower and a very slow day. And he must remember to call the stable. That thought was able to cheer Yami up a little and he rose and went straight to the shower. He could smell the perfume from his last night visitor and it was way too much to handle when he was sober. Yami gagged a little and washed his hair and skin properly in order to rid off that smell.

The whole bathroom was full of steam when he was ready and Yami shivered for cold when he stepped out of the bathroom. He walked quickly to the walk-in-closet and pulled up socks, boxers, black sweatpants and a blood red t-shirt. Only then was he ready to face his cell phone and make that phone call.

Yami looked at his watch and nodded slowly. Yep, if he was right, there should be a break between lessons right now. He grabbed his cell phone and choose the stable's number. It rang several times before someone picked it up.

"Hello! The Sunlight valley's stable, Ikeda Lisa speaking."

Yami smirked dryly.

"Hello. Is Muto Yugi there?"

"Oh, wait just a second," Lisa answered and Yami heard her voice when she called Yugi to phone.

There was a short moment of silence before Yugi took the phone.

"Hello? Muto Yugi speaking." He sounded a little out of breath like he had been running for Lisa. It made his voice sounds even more pleasant. Yami kicked that thought into oblivion.

"Hello Yugi, it's Yami here," he said and smirked when he heard Yugi's quick gasp.

"Oh, hello Yami. How can I help you?"

"I had been thinking what you said yesterday," Yami admitted.

"And?" Yugi sounded very curious.

"I want to learn how to ride well enough to participate a competition."

"That is wonderful news, really," Yugi sounded happy like he had heard that he had won the lottery or something.

"You have talent and it would be a shame if you didn't take the chance."

"I do?" Yami stared at his windows with wide eyes. He, who had been dropped out of Darkie's back just yesterday?

"Yes you do," Yugi answered calmly like he had read his thoughts. "You have the kind of decisiveness that you need to become an excellent rider."

"Hmmh," Yami was a little suspicious about that excellent part.

"Are you able to come at the stable today?" Yugi asked and Yami startled.

"Y-yes, why?" he stuttered and cursed mentally. Way to go, Yami, he scolded himself. That's how to sound like a adult, confident man.

"I want to discuss some details with you," Yugi chuckled. "It's much easier face to face than over the phone."

"Okay," Yami nodded. "Which time would be the best?"

"I will be here the whole evening. So you can come whenever you want. But please, come before we started to feed the horses at 9 pm."

Yami chuckled. "Okay, I will come."

"Wonderful, see you!"

"Thanks, bye."

"Bye!"

Yami stared at his cell phone for a moment and then shook his head. That would be a start… He would not fell off again, ever. Smirking to himself, Yami decided to go when the final lesson would be over, or during it. He didn't want to face all those girls any more than necessary.

Two hours later, Yami was on the road and heading toward the stable. In the stable's parking area was still a few cars so maybe the last lesson wasn't over yet. The weather was heavier than the past few days and Yami looked up the sky. Maybe there would be a storm tonight. It wasn't unusual this time a year. Summer was over and autumn was starting its game. Slowly but surely.

Yami sighed. He loved summer. Its heat, long days and holidays. When he was just kid, he had spent all his holidays in Egypt with his parents. Compared to now, Japan's summers were been lame and mild. Maybe he would move to Egypt when his studies were over…

He arrived at the stable a few minutes later and wasn't surprised when he saw Lisa standing at the center of the court and guiding nine young women. They were doing some very weird movements across the court and Yami didn't even know what it was. Several mid-aged women sat by the court and were watching their daughters ride.

Yami didn't mind them and went into the stable looking for Yugi. Frowning, he noticed that the stable was empty and silent. He almost jumped out of his skin when a young woman stepped out of the office. He hadn't seen her before and she looked as surprised as he was.

"Hey there. Looking for someone?"

"Yah, I looking for Yugi," Yami answered and the woman smiled.

"Ah, you must be Yami then. He told me that he's waiting for you at the private horses stable."

Yami raised his eyebrow. There was private horses too?

"Go outside, turn left around the stables corner. The private stable is there."

"Thanks, I think I will find it."

Yami walked outside and passed the stable's corner. Indeed, there was a building that he hadn't noticed before. It was the same shade of red as the main stable but it was smaller. By it was a pasture where three horses and two ponies occupied it. All of them were covered with a different colored planked. Yami didn't sure what breed they were. They didn't look the same as the main stable's horses and ponies. But… He wasn't an expert.

On the other side of the stable was a smaller court and Yami's eyebrows shots upright when he walked closer and saw movements behind a few trees and bushes. It was Yugi. He rode that same silvery white horse that Yami had seen in the video. Yami stopped a short distance away and just watched. Yugi galloped around the court at ease. His eyes were focused straight ahead of him like there was no other world at all. Yami was fascinated by how easily Yugi was sitting on the saddle and moved with his horse's movements. Like they were just one creature.

He wasn't able to see what Yugi did but suddenly his horse started doing a strange movement while galloping. Like it was changing its leading leg once every two steps. Yami shook his head and massaged his temples. Yep, that was something that he would wait to learn. First, he needed to be able to ride without looking like a strawberry in a blender.

Yugi slowed down and patted his horse, which whickered as an answer. It seemed to be very proud of itself by how it was carrying its tail high. It looked even more awesome in real life than in the video and Yami smiled dryly. Seemed like in the riding world there are similar rules like with racing. If you are a beginner, you are given the cheaper and more common type of cars, or horses in this case. And when you get really deep into that road, you would be able to get a real jewel, like Yugi's horse.

"Oh, hi Yami." Yugi's voice waked Yami from his thoughts and he raised his eyes to Yugi who had stopped his horse by the fence and looked down to him.

"Hi," Yami nodded. "That's your horse?"

"Yeah," Yugi's look was full of love when he patted his horse again. "His name is Pharaoh and he is Persian Arab and a pure _Hoor_."

Yami blinked.

"Hoor?"

Yugi smiled like a cherub.

"Yeah, it means that both his parents were pure Persian arabs."

"Okay..." Yami looked at Pharaoh who was acting like he wasn't there at all. "He looked more feisty than Vito."

Yami was surprised when Yugi suddenly laughed.

"It's because he's a stallion. Vito is a gelding. Stallions are usually way too strong-willed and aggressive to be used in riding schools," Yugi told him, apparently because he looked like something was dropped onto his head. "But stallions make very good companions in a competition because they are so proud and when you are able to make them listen to you, they are more sensitive than geldings. Isn't it right, boy?" Yugi chirped to Pharaoh who stirred his ears. Yami was sure that the horse could curse him just by it looked at him. He stepped one step away from it, just in case.

"Why is his name Pharaoh?"

Yugi gave a little embarrassment laugh.

"I love ancient Egypt," he admitted. "And his breed homeland is from middle-east, so I thought it would be suitable. And of course, his attitude was quite much like the Pharaohs," he grinned.

"I can see that," Yami smirked. "Although I don't know how many Pharaohs would let anybody ride on their back..."

Yugi burst out laughing.

"You are quite right!" He smiled and wiped out his tears that were formed by his laughing. "Come. I need to groom him. We can talk at the same time."

Yami nodded and Yugi hopped down from Pharaoh's back and took his reins. Together they walked to the stable and Yugi walked Pharaoh in his own, very large box stall.

The private stable floor was made of gray flagstones rather than concrete. The walls were painted white and the box stall doors were painted black. The box stall walls were halfway made of white painted board. From one meter high to the roof, black metal bars made the box stalls look a bit like a cage but which also gave the horses a better view of the corridor. Pharaoh's box stall was a large one in the far end corner that gave him two windows and a little bit of peace.

Yami watched Yugi as he took off Pharaoh's saddle and bridle and grabbed the stallion's brush box. The box was painted golden yellow and the stallion's name was written on the box's edge with crimson paint. All the brushes were painted that same golden yellow paint and they were in excellent condition.

"How long you have owned Pharaoh?" Yami asked when Yugi started grooming and the white stallion relaxed under the touch.

"Hmm," Yugi hummed thoughtfully. "About five years now. He was just two years old when I bought him so I have trained him from the very start." Yugi's voice was full of pride as he petted Pharaoh's neck and smiled at the horse when he shut his eyes and dangled his head low. Dozed off under that loving touch.

Yami looked at Yugi curiously.

"Have you won any prizes during your career?"

Yugi startled and Yami's eyes widened a little when he saw a faint blush on Yugi's face.

"A few", Yugi admitted so quietly that Yami was just barely able to hear him at all. "Nothing much," Yugi waved the topic off and Yami smirked by himself. That was really interesting reaction…

Yugi couched a little bit, still embarrassed.

"So, about your training," he started, bending down to cleaning up Pharaoh's hooves so Yami got a very nice view of his butt. Yugi had tiny pockets on his pants and Yami got some very distracting visions about putting his hand into those pocket and be able to feel if that butt was as firm as it looks. Err, what? Yami shook his head and focused on Pharaoh's mane.

"Yeah?" he asked, hoping that Yugi hadn't said anything while he was in the la la land.

"What do you say if we start training twice a week?" Yugi looked at him and Yami raised his brow.

"I think it might work," he admitted. Yugi picked up next hoof and Yami's thoughts were distracted again.

"Any specific days?"

"Eh," was Yami's very intelligent answer before he managed to claim his brain back into his head and moved his gaze to the wall. "Are there any quieter days here than others?"

"Hmm… Maybe Monday and Wednesday."

Yami heard a smile at Yugi's voice and glared at him.

"Do you have free time during those days?" he asked, acting like he hadn't even noticed.

"I have," Yugi nodded. "My school is over at 4 pm both of those days. So maybe… at six o'clock?"

Yami thought fast. "Yeah… Yep, it's fine."

"Good," Yugi beamed at him and Yami fought back the urge to look if there was new hole in the roof, or the whole new sun…

Yugi dropped his hoof pick back to the box and picked the box up, stepping out of the box stall.

"I will come with you at the office so we can make that training contract and all those boring paperwork." He tilted his head, looking at Yami with bright eyes. "Are you ready to start right on tomorrow?"

Like there would be any chance to say no… Yami just nodded and gulped. Seriously, Yugi's gaze could be used as a weapon of a peacekeeping operation. It could transform all those blood-lust idiots into piles of sticky goo. Even his aching muscles had melted like ice cream in an oven.

"Great, come." Yugi picked up Pharaoh's equipment and hurried to the saddle room right next to the main door. It was quite similar than the main stable's saddle room. Just a little smaller.

Yami watched when Yugi washed the bit and lifted the deep wine red planked at the beam to dry up.

"Now we can go," Yugi smiled at him and Yami almost fell over his legs when he tried to get out off way.

Chuckling to himself, Yami followed Yugi back to the main stable and inside the office.

The training contract wasn't the finest piece of paper that Yami had owned, but it filled its purpose. He could keep training with Yugi until this season ended.

"I'm pretty sure you will be able to participate in some local competitions in the winter," Yugi smiled him when he calculated how much more Yami would need to pay because of private training. "Here. You can pay it to the bank."

"Thanks," Yami barely looked at the bill. He already knew he had the money.

"So, see you on tomorrow."

"Yep," Yami couldn't help his smirk for Yugi's enthusiasm.

"Bye."

"Bye!"

Yami folded the papers into his pocket and walked back to his car. This autumn seemed to have become much more interesting than he had originally expected.

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 **Thanks for reading. I hope you have a moment of time to leave a word for me so I know what you like^^**


	7. Chapter 7

**Hello everyone! I'm sorry this took so long. Real life can be very annoying when it wants to be.**  
 **But without too long speeches, thank you for your comments and thanks for my loyal beta: King of Doors^^**  
 **Enjoy!**

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At half past five, one very anxious Yami was walking toward the stable. His muscles were still sore from Saturday but it wasn't that bad. He had even visited the gym yesterday. Sure his exercise had been shorter and easier than normal, but he had been able to do it. Maybe his muscles were starting to adapt to this.

There had rain all day long yesterday so the sand road was muddy and the stable's yard wasn't any better. Yami looked at his boots and sighed. It would be total hell to clean all that dirt off…  
Yami shook his head and walked to the stable door. Just barely he was able to dodge stumbling upon some girl, who definitely wasn't pre-teenager anymore… Yami's eyes widened with horror when the blonde, slender girl smiled at him and let her eyes wander around his body like a starving lion… For some reason it just made Yami feel sick.  
"Oh, hello, handsome. Haven't seen you before..." The girl purred and leaned against the door frame. "Looking for somebody…?" Those blue eyes were as calculating as they were alluring. Yami had dealt with this kind of girl hundreds of times before. It didn't make it any more pleasant.  
Yami frowned at her and crossed his arms across his chest. Using his body language to block out the girl's flirting.  
"Yeah. I'm looking for Yugi. Where is he?" His voice was hard and cold and to Yami's amusement the girl shivered and took a little step back. Suddenly unsure of herself.  
"Mmmh, I t-think he is in the barn," the girl shuddered and vanished inside the stable without anymore words. Yami smirked and turned around. So, to the barn then.

The barn's doors were open and Yami walked inside. There was a very dim light that was coming from a few lamps hanging from the ceiling.  
There were piles and piles of hay, all tucked neatly into bales.  
At first, Yami didn't see anybody and frowned at those piles, but then a sound caught his attention. It was low and thundering. Thump, thump, thump…  
Yami raised his brow and walked further forward. When he finally saw Yugi, his eyebrows shots towards his hairline. Yugi was standing on top of a high pile of hay bales and grabbed just another bale and just throw it down. Thump! on the floor was several more bales laying all around after being thrown down. Yami stared at those bales. They were huge! He didn't know how much they weighed, but it would be about twenty pounds or even more! How on Earth Yugi can just pick them up so easily?  
He lifted his stare to Yugi when he heard a sigh. Yugi wiped his forehead and looked at all those bales that he had thrown down. Like he was calculating them.  
"Two more, I think," Yami heard Yugi's muttering and shook his own head slowly when Yugi grabbed the next bale and used his whole body to lift it up and then throw it down. And the last one. Then Yugi just hopped his way down from the pile like he had been relative of a gazelle.

Those sparkling amethyst eyes spotted Yami from his hiding spot and a huge smile emerged on Yugi's face.  
"Hi, Yami!" he greeted. "You are early."  
"Hi," Yami smiled awkwardly. "Yeah, I am. There was a little less traffic that I had been expected."  
"Oh, that's okay," Yugi smiled at him.  
"So..." Yami waved his hand to the bales. "What are you doing?"  
"Ah, those straw bales are going at to the box stalls. The horses need always stand on clean straw bed."  
"But why you don't just pick up those in the lowest row?" Yami nodded towards the pile.  
"It would be too easy," Yugi laughed.  
"Besides, Lisa and I are only ones who are able to climb on top of these piles. Our other workers have serious fears of heights so it would be too cruel to force they climb up. So they can pick up those easy bales. And when we, Lisa or I, climb up, we usually drop down a few extra bales so there are always easy bales to pick up." Yugi signed and shook a few pieces of stay straw from his hair. It worked, but now it looked like Yugi had had a wild sex in the hay pile… Yami showed that thought quickly to oblivion.  
"Now it is my job, because Lisa hurt her arm badly and she can't lift anything with it."  
That actually made sense so Yami nodded.  
"Okay. Can I help? Are you going to move some of these to the stable now?"  
"Sure you can if you want," Yugi nodded and winked an eye. "There is a cart," Yugi pointed towards the corner. "Could you pull it here, please?"  
"Sure," Yami shrugged his shoulders and walked to the cart. It was a rather simple thing with two huge wheels, one outrigger and two triangularly shaped poles with a handle. It was really light and Yami could easily pull it next to Yugi.  
"Thanks," Yugi smiled. "We need load at least ten bales. It isn't enough, but the cart can't take more." Yugi grabbed one bale and lifted it on the cart, pushing it to the corner. The movement lifted up his shirt and exposed a bit his pearly white lower back. Not that Yami had looked or anything… Yami ripped his gaze off and instead grabbed one of those bales, surprised at how much they indeed weighted. Quickly he fixed his lifting tactics so he wouldn't hurt himself.

After about five minutes, all ten bales were on the cart and Yugi piled up rest of the bales in a neat row.  
"We are ready. Thanks to you." Yugi beamed to Yami and hopped between the poles and started to pull the cart out of the barn. It was clear that the cart wasn't so light anymore because Yugi leaned towards the front pole with his whole body and dug his feet to the ground with a low growl that made Yami's stomach do funny flips. Yugi's whole body tensed up before the cart finally start rolling and Yami gave a deep breath that he didn't notice he'd been holding.  
"Could you close the barn doors, please?" Yugi asked and Yami nodded. "Thank you. When you are ready, come to the office. I will be there in a few minutes."  
"Sure," Yami watched after Yugi as he pulled the cart to the stable. Then he chuckled and pushed those heavy doors closed and sealed them with a beam.

The office was empty when Yami arrived. Shortly he wondered where everybody was because the court had been empty but so were the box stalls. Just a few horse were in the stable.  
Yami heard footsteps and turned around, facing Yugi, who walked inside the office, picking some stray hay off his hair.  
"Where is everyone?" Yami asked.  
"They are trail riding," Yugi told and Yami lifted his brow curiously.  
"Like… Outside the stable's area?"  
"Yeah. We have some awesome routes around the stable where we can ride without being forced to ride along the big roads." Yugi grinned to Yami. "We can go too, when you have learned some more things."  
"Okay… So, which horse I can take?"  
"You can take Captain. He's halfbred gelding who has plenty of experience. I had used him before with my private clients, so I know he is very able to teach you all that you need to know."

That sounded promising… Yami looked at Yugi's face and smirked mentally.  
"Where is he?"  
"He is middle of the right corridor. You can go start grooming. I need to make one phone call and then I will come to help you."  
"Okay," Yami nodded and walked out the office, grabbing Captain's brush box with him. He could hear how Yugi choose some phone number, but when the call was connected, he was too far away to hear anything.

He hoped the best and was positively surprised when he saw Captain. He was tall, rather slender horse with light brown color fur and black mane and tail. He had long, white marking on his head too. The horse looked at him peacefully when he stepped into the box stall. Yami chuckled and patted his neck before he took the rope and clicked it onto the halter and tied to the other end of the ring on the wall.

Since Saturday had been just two days ago, he remembered quite well how to groom the horse. Captain didn't respond anyway but Yami at least thought that the horse was enjoying his work.  
He was surprised that Yugi lingered so long and keep peeking into the corridor. Waiting to see Yugi's arrival.

That didn't happen before he was cleaning Captain's hooves up.  
"Sorry, it took longer than I thought," Yugi's voice carried into Yami's ears and he looked at Yugi over his shoulder.  
"It's alright," he told and finished his work. "I'm ready."  
"I thought you might be." Yami heard Yugi's smile in his voice. "I brought Captain's equipment with me."  
Yami's gaze switched up and he noticed the saddle and the bridle hanging on top of the door.  
"Oh, thank you."  
"You're welcome," Yugi nodded. "Captain looks great. Ready to saddle?"  
"Yeah..." Yami looked at his work and nodded slowly. "I think I am."

The saddling went quite well too and Yami was proud of himself. At least this time he didn't look like a total idiot in front of Yugi.  
"Follow me," Yugi waved to him and led to way to the private stable's court.  
"Why are we here?" Yami frowned to Yugi who shot a questioning look at him.  
"I think that you might want some peace. If we use the main court, there is always a risk that some girls come look at your riding."  
Yami blinked twice.  
"Oh… Thank you."  
"No problem." Yugi nodded and smiled at him. For some reason, the idea of being alone with Yugi caused some tingling on Yami's skin.

They stopped inside the court and Yugi closed the gate. Yami waited patiently for his advice.  
"You may rise to the saddle." Yugi smiled at him and Yami dropped the stirrups and raised his left leg to the stirrup. He felt Yugi's stare at his back and tried to be as smooth as possible, but he still needed two tries before he actually get enough power to get up.  
Right after he got onto the saddle, Yami felt how short the stirrups were.  
"They are way too short to me," he frowned to Yugi, who nodded his agreement.  
"Let your legs hang limp. I can show you how you can know when they are just right length for you."  
Yami raised his brow but obeyed, letting his legs hang. It didn't feel so nice on his groin and Yami shifted his position slightly. And blushed badly when he noticed Yugi's smile.  
"I know," Yugi admitted, winking.  
"The human body isn't meant to be like that. But this is over soon."  
Yami cursed mentally and died from embarrassment.  
"I'm fine," he muttered. Yugi didn't say anything but his eyes sparkled with amusement.

"So," Yugi continued, touching the stirrups' straps and pulling roughly on the first buckle. "You can lengthen these straps just like your own belt. But before you pull the buckle back to its place, you can easily check if it's the right length."  
"How?" Yami asked, trying to focus on something other than his thigh, which was tingling like mad just because of Yugi's body heat. Yugi smiled up to him and Yami sincerely hoped that his thoughts didn't show on his face.

Yugi let the stirrup hang free and lightly touched Yami's ankle.  
"See? When the stirrup is at the same level as your ankle, it's just long enough."  
Yami leaned sideways a little so he could see what Yugi had mentioned and his tensed leg accidentally touched Yugi's stomach.  
"Sorry..." Yami muttered when Yugi startled a little.  
"It's okay," Yugi waved the accident off and pulled the straps so that the stirrup's buckle raised to its normal position under the leather of the saddle.  
"Do that with the other one," he ordered softly. Yami obeyed and a few moments later both stirrups were in their proper place.

"Good." Yugi walked to the center of the court and waved Yami to start walking.  
It was so relaxing to be all alone in the court. Yami noticed that Yugi seems to be relaxed as well, even though his gaze was still sharp as a blade.  
"So, how are your muscles?" Yugi suddenly asked and Yami startled.  
"Huh?" He looked at Yugi totally confused.  
"Still sore from Saturday?"  
"Ah, not really anymore…" Yami smirked blandly. "My body is used to exercise."  
"I can tell," Yugi nodded and Yami felt a drop of cold sweat onto his back. "You have quite sturdy thighs..." Yugi's voice wandering off when he noticed Yami's unbelieving staring.  
"What? It's a huge advantage for you," Yugi frowned, like the whole conversation and talking about another person's thighs would be absolutely normal. "Sometimes I have to start by building up rider's own stamina. With you we can skip that part."  
"Sure..." Yami muttered, trying to focus on Captain and the horse's movements. Not thinking about Yugi's gaze wandering all around his body, because that thought made his body so hot that it wouldn't be healthy.

"Though… When you ride, you are using different parts of your body so it's understandable to be a bit sore after a lesson. I can teach you some stretches that you will be able to do on the saddle."  
Yami lifted his eyebrow and glanced at Yugi.  
"Why? I'm totally able to stretch when I'm not on the saddle."  
"Because it will improve your agility," Yugi was stern. "If you want to become a race rider and definitely if you want to participate show jumping competitions, you will need excellent agility. There would be situations when your horse would slip or be frightened for some reason and you must stay on the saddle. Because if you fall, you are disqualified."  
Yami nodded, suddenly serious.  
"I understand."  
"Good. We will get to that part at the end of the lessons. Now you could collect your reins. Remember what I said about feeling the horse's mouth? Try to find that feeling again."

Yami noticed quickly that now, when Yugi was able to concentrate on him every moment, he was getting more direct advice than in the group lessons. He smirked dryly after a quite successful trotting moment. It was like Yugi somehow was able to know that he wanted to do his best, so he was getting more and more specific instruction.  
After a half hour of intense riding, Yugi asked him to stop and attached the leash to Captain's bit.  
"Let the reins hang free and cross your stirrups in front of you," Yugi told him and Yami nodded, taking a deep breath. He was quite exhausted, both mentally and physically but the lessons weren't over yet. Captain keep walking in a circle around Yugi with a steady pace and Yami let himself relax.  
"Good," Yugi nodded. "Keep your back straight, but let your legs hang low and close your eyes. Just focus on Captain's walking and take a few deep breath."  
Yami obeyed and focused on the movement. He could feel how his muscles relax and he rested his hands on his thighs. The wind was shuffling through leaves and felt good against his overheated skin.  
Yugi's voice drifted to his ears, calm and soothing.  
"Keep your eyes closed but start rolling your ankles." Yugi waited for Yami to be done before he continued. "Lift your hands above your head and push upward. You can raise yourself off the saddle if you feel steady enough."  
Yami nodded but didn't answer aloud as he focused on his balance and stretched his back and hands. The stretch itself was very familiar to him but it was the first time he was doing it on a moving platform. He tried to rise to his knees but sat quickly back to the saddle. Maybe if he had his stirrups, he would be able to do that, but his already tired thigh muscles didn't have enough power to hold him up.  
"Good," Yugi's soothing voice disturbed Yami's musing. "Now lean forward as you would try to touch Captain's ears. As far as you can and keep that stretch for several seconds."  
Some small voice inside his head, sounding quite like his survival instinct, told him that it was absolutely crazy to lean forward when your platform was unstable, but Yami didn't listen to it. Luckily Captain didn't complain when he got support on its neck, even though he was afraid he would hurt the horse with his weigh. Soon enough, Yami felt he couldn't lean anymore forward, so he keep his balance and closed his eyes again. Staying like that took a lot of concentration and Yami was relieved when Yugi told him to raise up again.  
"Try touching Captain's croup as close to tail as you can. Keep your arms straight."  
Yami couldn't help smirking when he did that. He felt like an idiot and told that to Yugi, who also laughed.  
"I know, but it stretches your chest muscle and biceps. I can tell you that when we are doing that for several weeks, you will be able to touch Captain's tail without a problem."  
"Where are you now?" Yami could help teasing. "Can you touch Pharaoh's back hooves?"  
Yugi cracked up laughing.  
"Not quite," he admitted. "But I need admit that I have advantage… I started these stretches when I was too young to be able to think about falling or how stupid I might look like. My old teacher said that I was like a monkey on the horse's back."  
Yami smirked to Yugi, letting his gaze wandering up and down his body.  
"Hmm… I can imagine..."  
Yugi squinted his eyes threateningly.  
"Be careful, we have still time to do more trotting..."  
Yami faked a shudder.  
"Oh, dear god, be merciful," he begged and almost fell off when he cracked up laughing. Yugi wasn't any better as he wiped tears from his eyes.  
"You are hopeless," he accused with an amused voice. "Stop Captain and come down. I think we are done now."

Yami did as he was told, still smiling and dropped down. Surprisingly, his legs weren't as in as much pain as last time.  
"Captain will continue straight to the next lesson. I can take him there." Yugi grabbed the reins and smiled to Yami. "Be ready. Next time you won't get off that easy..."  
Yami smiled back, winking an eye.  
"Are you always so threatening to your students?"  
"Only for you," Yugi laughed and shrugged his shoulders, walking away with Captain.  
Yami looked after him and shook his head slowly, still smiling. Yep, This was really interesting and he didn't know why, but still. Maybe Yugi would need to be more careful who he flirted with. Even though Yami wasn't sure if he liked this game, it was a game. And it was game time.

* * *

 **Thanks for reading! Hope you have some time to leave a comment^^**


	8. Chapter 8

**Thank you for your patience! I have dealing with serious personal problems during this spring and summer and I have hard time to find any interest for this fic or writing whatsoever.**  
 **I was even thinking about putting this on hiatus until I red your reviews and they give me enough willpower and energy to continue this. So I'm grateful. Thank you.**  
 **Here is the chapter 8, very long one, may I say? Please, enjoy!**

* * *

Yami was frustrated.

It had been over a month since his first private lesson but still he wasn't sure if Yugi was really flirting with him or not. Their hands keep touching by 'accident', they laughed together much more than Yami had expected and Yugi often complimented Yami on his agility or how good his posture was. But still… All those could be just the way Yugi taught. Yami had no other students to compare with.

It really messed with his head. He couldn't even forget Yugi when he went to the nightclub where Bakura and Malik had mocked his lack of interest in girls. How on earth could he concentrate on girls when all he could think was how the lights of the nightclub were totally the same color as Yugi's eyes? Or how much more pleasant Yugi's voice was than listening to those girls giggling when they tried to sell themselves to him? Needless to say that he hadn't had sex in weeks, and his dreams were getting weirder and weirder.

"If you rub that spot any more, you will be able to see your reflection on Captain's side." A very familiar and teasing voice snapped Yami out of his thought and he barely managed not to flinch. Which was good since one of the first things he had learned about the relationship with horses was to not show your own fear.

Yami looked at his side and met Yugi's gaze. His teacher and the devil in an angel's outfit leaned against the box stall door and smiled at him. At him. Yeah… So funny. Yami rolled his eyes.

"I'm almost ready," he told to Yugi who nodded.

"Good. I will be waiting for you on the court." He winked an eye at him. "Be prepared for something new."

Yami felt chills going down his spine. That voice… was it meant to be threatening or seductive? Yami ground his teeth when Yugi walked away and left him in peace to finishing saddling. Though his peace of mind was gone like dust in the wind. Just like it had been from the very beginning. Just one comment from Yugi and all his confidence went straight out of a window and he felt like a junior high school boy once more.

Captain chortled once like asking 'what he waiting for' and Yami sighed and fastened the saddle belt. Time to go and face his destiny.

When he arrived at the private court, Yami raised his eyebrows. The court looked like a storm had dropped its trash all over the place. There was hay bales, beams from jumping obstacles, upside down placed buckets and even a dark green tarp at the very end of the court.

"What…?" Yami started ask, staring at Yugi who was placing a final beam to its place, completing a beam circle. It looks like the sun beams from the kid's drawing.

Yugi smirked at him.

"Come here!" he called, waving Yami closer.

"Why are all these things here?" Yami asked when he stopped by Yugi.

"We are training both you and Captain's agility, as well as your trust in each other l today," Yugi told him. "Horses are prey animals so they are highly sensitive when something unknown happens. Because we, as humans, are the leaders, they thrust us. But only if we are strong enough to cover our fear first. You might know that, for example, a tiny little pool of water in the street isn't deep and it's safe to step on. But if you are afraid how your horse will react, your horse will assume that you fear the water."

Yami nodded slowly.

"I understand. Is that why there is that tarp?"

"Exactly. Now, get up and start warming up. Don't let Captain go easy."

"Never," Yami smirked and hopped on the saddle, focusing on riding.

He and Captain had become very close, but it wasn't the same as what was between Yugi and Pharaoh. Maybe it was just that Captain had many, many riders before Yami and would continue to have more after him. Yami wasn't anything special to the gelding. He shook the thoughts out of his mind and raised to a trot when Yugi told him to do so. It was becoming more pleasant than at very beginning, but he still did not like it. Yet Yugi wouldn't let him try to gallop but Yami hoped it would change soon. It looked so much more pleasant than a trot and there must be a reason why everybody was so excited about it.

"Great!" Yugi smiled. "Slow down to walk again and when you are in the middle of the short side of the court, turn Captain to these beams." Yugi pointed to the six red and white beams that alternated color in the middle of the length of the diameter.

"Don't let Captain slow down when you ride over them."

"Okay," Yami answered, turning Captain toward those beams and focusing on its movements. Just before the beams, he pressed slightly against Captain's side to keep up the walking speed and the gelding obeyed nicely.

"Well done," Yugi praised and Yami snorted.

"Piece of cake," he said, smirking to Yugi when he rode by and back to the hoof trace.

"You say so?" Yugi smirked back. "Maybe you should try it trotting."

"Oh gosh", Yami sighed. He had walked straight to his own grave…

Captain rose to a trot when commanded and Yami tried to swallow his own nervousness down to his throat. Giving clear commands was still difficult to him like when to increase speed and most of the time he still managed to do something with nothing but luck.

This time Captain disobeyed him and avoid the beam line, almost dropping Yami down.

Swearing aloud, Yami grabbed hold of the saddle and managed to stay on it, but Captain was wandering in totally the wrong direction.

"Try again," Yugi told calmly. "Remember to keep your legs around Captain."

Yami nodded, frowning with concentrating when he rode around the court and then turned again toward the beams. This time he was prepared and when Captain tried to slip aside, he stopped it and Captain had no choice but trot over the beams. The gelding raised his legs higher because those beams and Yami was satisfied when he rode by Yugi again.

"Nice. Try again once more," Yugi smiled at him and Yami nodded.

"When you are done, change directions. We need to keep Captain alert at all times so he won't start to predict our plans."

Yami took a deep breath and rode Captain forward, trying to focus on the horse's movement and keep his own posture as good as possible.

"Good, keep going," Yugi praised him. "Come again over those beams and then turn toward those buckets. Make a circle around them."

"In a trot?" Yami asked unbelieving, shooting a quick look at Yugi who just nodded.

"Yeah. There's a the first time for everything, right?"

"Great..." Yami muttered dryly and rode over the beams. This time Captain didn't try anything stupid.

The five buckets made quite a big circle, much bigger than those he had done while walking. Luckily they helped him to make that circle and another straight after the first one.

"Awesome! Yami, you are sitting much better than before!" Yugi smiled and Yami smirked to himself. Someone was again looking at his butt… He already opened his mouth to say something about it but then hesitated. What if Yugi hadn't meant anything by it? What if there wasn't any undercurrent in his words? It would be a really awkward situation…

"Okay, you can slow down to a walk, Yami," Yugi's voice interrupted Yami's musing. He flinched a little but tightened his reins and Captain started walking.

"Stretch a bit but don't let Captain slow his walk down."

"Any ideas how I can stretch something that feels like boiled spaghetti?" Yami asked back and Yugi laughed. Yami smiled to himself as he watched Yugi laugh. That guy really laughs with his heart and it was pleasant to hear. Not anything like those annoying girls at the nightclub.

"Be careful that Captain doesn't eat you," Yugi said back and Yami's smirk widened.

He walked once more around the court and tried to stretch as much as he could.

"Nice. Now, come here," Yugi waved him toward the tarp. Yami looked at the green plastic and sighed. He stopped Captain next to Yugi.

"How this will work?"

Yugi petted Captain's neck while he looking up to Yami.

"This is a simple exercise. You just need to ride over the tarp. You can let Captain look at his feet but don't let him stop. Don't let him try to avoid the tarp either. The ideal situation is when Captain trusts you enough to just walk, or trot, over the tarp without dropping any speed." Yugi tilted his head. "Want to try?"

"Sure… There nothing to lose but my dignity..."

Yugi laughed and patted his knee.

"It's not so serious. Just take a deep breath, make a circle and try."

Yami did precisely so. Yugi backed up a few steps giving him more space.

Captain put his ears back and hesitated but then slowly stepped onto the tarp. The plastic rustled under the horse's hooves and Yami tried to stay as calm and self-confident as possible.

He didn't have a chance when Captain decided that the tarp was a life-threatening beast and tried to get off of it as soon as possible. The gelding jumped sideways and Yami's body weight pull him in another direction. His first and only instinct was to grab a hold on the saddle, which would have worked… had the saddle not slipped off Captain's back and turned to the side.

Yami hit to ground on his side and rolled away from Captain, who bolted away, freaking out more from the saddle than the tarp. It was now under the horse's belly, the stirrups hiting it's legs. Every hit freaked Captain out even more.

Before Yami even had time rise up from the ground, Yugi emerged somewhere and grabbed Captain's reins in a very steady hold.

"Shoooo!" Yugi's voice was very odd, like a shout. Loud enough to cover Captain's panic but at the same time very soothing.

"Shooo, everything is okay. Calm down… Shhhh…"

Yami stared at Yugi as he calmly stood by the panicked horse. He didn't even move or flinch when Captain stomped on his feet several times. He just kept talking in that calming voice and slowly forced Captain's head down.

"Easy now..." Yugi told to panting animal, cupping its neck in a slow motion. "There nothing to be afraid…"

Ever so slowly, Yugi moved to Captain's side and opened the saddle's belt buckles, letting the whole thing drop to the ground. Captain flinched away from the movement, but Yugi managed to calm it down again.

"Are you okay?" he then asked without looking away from Captain.

"Yeah, I think so. Just some bruises," Yami said, slowly rising from the ground. He was in awe. If he hadn't seen it his very own eyes, he would have thought it impossible. Like a scene out of the movies…

"Good. Could you please lift that saddle off the ground? I think Captain have enough for now."

"I think so too..." Yami grabbed the saddle and put it on the fence. Looking at Yugi as he slowly walked Captain around the court, letting him cool down.

The gelding looked so tired when they finally moved back to the stable. This time Yugi groomed it, telling Yami that he should check his own injuries as well.

Yami frowned, almost saying something about Yugi's own feet but held it back. Instead, he took Captain's equipment and went to the office. There was a little mirror on the wall, but from it, Yami could tell that he needed to wash his face… And hands. And his entire attire needed a clean up as well.

Yugi stepped into the office when Yami was ready and he frowned at the way Yugi walked. Like he was afraid to put any weight on either of his foot. He was sure that Yugi had pain in his legs.

"Captain is fine now. He's resting."

"How're your legs?" Yami asked this time. Almost smiling when Yugi looked at him like a lost owl chick.

"They are...good? I think."

Yami snorted.

"Then why you are limping? I saw that Captain stomped onto your feet several times. You need to go check them at to hospital."

"I'm totally fine," Yugi tried to wave his worry off with a bright smile but Yami didn't buy it.

"No, you are not." His voice was final and Lisa, who just had stepped in the office, blinked at them.

"What's going on?" she said.

"I'm taking Yugi to the hospital," Yami told her with a voice that didn't leave room for any argument. "Captain stomped several times on his feet and he is limping."

"I'm not," Yugi tried again, but shrank under Lisa's glare.

"Go, Yugi. We can survive here today without you. You have only two legs, and you need them both."

Yugi sighed deeply but nodded.

"Okay, okay. If you insist. Though, I can just use the bus."

"Don't even think about it," Yami snorted and Lisa covered her smile with her hand when Yugi took his back bag from the self on the wall and shook his head.

"Let's go then."

"Take care!" Lisa called after them, still smiling.

On their way down the sand road, Yami noticed that Yugi had slowed down. He stopped and looked at Yugi.

"Are you able to walk all to way down to the car?"

"It's fine," Yugi assured him, smile still on his face. Yami couldn't really understand how he could keep his smile on all the time… By now he was almost sure that Yugi smiled even when he sleeps. Aaand now next thing in mind, thank you… Yami forced his brain to be nice.

"You don't look like it," he said boldly. "I will carry you."

He scooped Yugi up his arms before he could even try to say no.

"Y-Yami!" Yugi shuttered and blushed like a tomato, staring at him with wide eyes. "Put me down!"

"Nope," Yami smirked down at him and started walking again. "This way is much faster and if you have a fracture in your legs, you will make it worse if you keep walking."

"But... but…! Oh gosh..." Yugi buried his face in his hands and Yami held back his laughter. Yugi was totally adorable when he forgot his teacher's attitude. At the same time he was surprised at how light Yugi was. Sure, he was shorter than he, but it felt like he was carrying a bunch of feathers instead of a person.

They were in the parking area sooner than Yami had been hoping and he put Yugi down so he could open car's doors.

"Hop in," he told Yugi, who raised his eyebrows at his car.

"Nice truck," Yugi whistled lowly when he climbed in and fastened his seat belt.

"Thanks," Yami smirked. "It is great for school trips."

"Sure..." Yugi raised his eyebrows at him and Yami tried to look as innocent as possible. Judging by Yugi's face, his poker face hadn't been good enough. Thank God Yugi didn't say anything else and Yami could concentrate on driving.

The drive to the hospital took only ten minutes and then Yami was able to park his car as close to the main doors as possible.

He walked around the car and helped Yugi out of it.

"I can car-" Yami started but Yugi's glare silenced him. Though, It was more like a pout. Yami bit his lip and fought back a laugh.

"Don't even think about it," Yugi said, straightening his back and limping toward the doors. There was several another patients coming and going, each of them only caring about their own business.

Yami only gave Yugi support and didn't hurry or slow their pace. Only when they finally were inside the reception hall did Yami push gently Yugi to sit down in one of the chairs.

"I will get a nurse," he told Yugi, who just nodded.

"Thanks."

Yami smiled shortly and then hurried to find some help for Yugi.

There were a few nurses by the desk and Yami addressed the first one, who lifted her gaze from her clipboard.

"Hey, my friend needs a doctor. A horse stomped on to his feet and he can barely walk."

The nurse, about in her early forties, nodded and smiled.

"Okay. He is that young man over there?" She nodded toward Yugi, who smiled back, lacking a lot of confidence that had become so familiar to Yami.

The nurse walked to him and Yami trailed after her, unsure what to do now.

"Hi," the nurse started and Yugi lifted his gaze up to meet hers.

Intentionally or not but the full force of the cuteness hit the poor nurse and Yami. Even though he was a few steps back. The nurse was only able to stare at those big amethyst eyes and there was no hope for her. Yami felt almost pity for her. Almost, because she didn't need to see those eyes twice a week…

"Oh, poor thing," the nurse cooed. "Can you walk at all? We have a wheelchair if you need it."

Yugi blinked, looking totally baffled by the whole situation and Yami quickly found something very interesting on the ceiling. His sides were hurting for his barely restrained laughter.

"I think I can walk..?" Yugi sounded unsure, looking at the nurse, who had gone into mother hen mode for some reason unknown to Yugi.

Yami coughed very suspiciously and moved to Yugi, helping him up from the chair.

"Please, lead the way," Yami said the nurse, who timidly nodded and eyed Yugi as if suspecting he would collapse at any second.

"This way. Are you sure you don't need a wheelchair?"

"I am," Yugi nodded and looked up at Yami, raising questionably his eyebrow. Yami just shook his head biting his lip. He didn't trust his own voice right now.

The nurse guides them to a small room and told them to wait.

"Uh, I really hope that there isn't anything broken," Yugi sighed, sitting on the edge of the bed and lifted his leg up. Then he cracked up a little laugh which startled Yami.

"What?"

"I think I need to take off my shoes..." Yugi giggled and rub his face with a tired movement. Yami couldn't help but smirk as well.

"Hmm, it might help a little."

"You think so?" Yugi shook his head in amusement and leaned forward to open up his black leather boots buckles. There was three of them on each boot, all of them outside of the calf so they wouldn't disturb the horse.

Then, when Yugi tried to take then completely off, there was sharp hiss of pain and Yami bolted quickly to his side.

"What's wrong?" His voice was full of concern and Yugi lifted up his gaze, grimacing.

"My feet hurt so bad that I couldn't take them off."

Yami nodded, frowning.

"I will help," he offered. "It might still hurt but hopefully not as much."

"Just do it, please," Yugi sighed, grabbing hold of the edge of the bed.

"This isn't my first time hurting myself due to a horse, I can manage a little pain."

Maybe, but he wasn't willing to cause it, Yami thought and grimaced as well when he gently took off the right boot first and gently but persistently pulled it off. Yugi hissed in pain, shutting his eyes. Yami felt so bad for him, knowing that there was still another boot left.

"Are you okay?" he asked hesitating. Yugi glared at him through his tears of pain.

"Just do it!"

Yami flinched and then pull the left boot off as well, dropping it to the floor by the wall.

Yugi gasped for air on the bed, slowly adjusting to the pain.

Yami felt so stupid when all he could do was just stand there and do nothing.

Luckily there were steps outside the room and the elderly doctor step in. He looked serious but still smiled, nodding to both of them.

"I'm Doctor Kuwari," he introduced himself and looked at Yugi.

"Can you tell me what happened?"

Yugi nodded and shrug his shoulders same time.

"The horse was panicking and when I was calming him down, he stomped on my feet. I don't remember pain there, but I was highly distracted."

"Is there any pain now?" the doctor ask, eyeing Yugi's feet.

"Yeah, and I think they are swollen as well." Yugi glared at his feet as if a mere bad look could force them to heal.

The doctor nodded and put his clipboard on the table and put the blue plastic gloves on.

"Let see." He touched gently Yugi's foot and nodded every time when Yugi flinched in pain.

"Yes, I will send you to the x-rays. By now is very hard to say if there is a fracture or just damage in the soft tissue. After the x-ray, we will know more."

"Okay," Yugi sighed.

"You can go to the x-ray room, when you arrived, they will be waiting for you," the doctor nodded friendly and then left.

"I really hope there aren't any fractures," Yugi sighed. "I don't have time to wait for them to heal."

Yami nodded, feeling guilty. If he hadn't failed that simple task, Captain wouldn't have freaked out and Yugi wouldn't be injured.

"I'm sorry," he muttered when he helped Yugi off the bed. Yugi raises his eyebrow.

"Why? This is not your fault."

"But if I didn't fail that..."

"Oh, shut up," Yugi growled, rolling his eyes. "Like I said, that wasn't my first and won't be my last accident with the horses. If you want to blame someone, blame me. Because if I would buy my new safety boots by now, this wouldn't have happened at all."

"But..." Yami frowned and Yugi gave him a stern look.

"Listen. We need to go to the x-ray before they send an army to find us."

Yami chuckled and shook his head, giving in.

"Okay. Let's go." He grabbed Yugi's boots just in case they wouldn't come back to the same room and there would be thieves as well.

There was a sign that pointed them in the right direction and with a few more they finally hobbled to the x-ray part of the hospital.

The green colored work attire dressed nurse come greet them.

"You must be Mr. Moto?" she asked Yugi who nodded.

"Great. Come in please and sit on the bed." She pointed to the examination bed in the middle of the room.

"You can wait outside," she told Yami. "This won't take long."

Yami nodded and helped Yugi onto the bed before he walked out of the room and waited.

Six minutes later, Yugi limped out off the room and collapsed in the nearest chair.

"Are you okay?" Yami asked and Yugi dragged his hands down his face.

"I almost kicked the nurse by accident," he muttered really embarrassed.

"Why?" Yami had to ask, feeling a slight smile creeping on his lips.

"She tickled me," Yugi answered and blushed, making all red wines in the whole world jealous by his color. Yami chuckled.

"So, you are that sensitive?" he couldn't help teasing and Yugi's blush only darkened and he glared – ehm, pouted – at Yami.

"I'm not!"

"Hmmmh," Yami raised his eyebrow and then quickly avoided Yugi's playful hit.

"Come," he laughed, pulling Yugi up from his chair.

"Time to go back." He tried not to think how good it felt to hear Yugi's laugh radiating through his whole body when he leaned into him.

"The nurse said that we can go back to the same room when we left. Doctor Kuwari will come soon."

Yami nodded and then they started their slow walk back to the room.

The doctor arrived soon after them with a familiar clipboard. Yugi was again sitting on the bed and Yami leaned against the wall.

"Is anything broken?" Yugi asked immediately. Doctor Kuwari smiled soothingly.

"No," he answered and Yugi sighed in relief.

"Thank god..." He rubbed his face, trying to calm down.

"However..." the doctor continued and both Yami and Yugi snapped their attention back to the man. "Your legs got severe hits and the soft tissue will be painful and swollen for several days. Walk as much as you can. It will help the circulation and get rid of all the fluids. The nurse will come in soon to put bandages on your feet. They will help support your legs and lessen the pain. Cold water would help with the swelling and at night and when you sit down, you can raise your legs up. It will help too."

"Thank you, doctor," Yugi said sincerely, smiling at the man.

"You're welcome." The man smiled a little. "I think it will be useless to tell you to be more careful?"

Yugi just laughed.

"I'm always careful with horses, Doctor." His eyes sparkle with mirth and the doctor laughed as well.

"I see. So, well then. I hope you will be better soon." He winked an eye.

"I can't say to my daughter that I was a reason why her favorite rider won't ride again."

Yugi's eyes widened and he blushed so darkly that Yami wouldn't have been surprised if his entire left body would have suffered from blood loss. The doctor chuckled and bid his goodbyes before he left.

"Sounds like you have your own fan club," Yami teased smiling and Yugi moaned from embarrassment, burying his face in his hands. Yami just laughed and shook his head.

"Come on, it's not so bad," he smirked and Yugi sighed.

"You really don't know anything about girls, do you?" The amethyst eyed boy raised his brows to Yami.

"More than you know. I thought you knew that almost all of the girls at the stable would sell their right foot just to be able to kiss you."

"What!?" Yugi shrieked, blushing again madly, just after the last one had gone away. "But I'm way too old for them! And I'm their teacher!"

Yami chuckled.

"You think that's ever stopped teenagers from crushing on someone?" He patted Yugi's head, marveling how soft his hair was. Much softer than his own. He sighed internally. There was the reason why he always thought about the kettle, pan, and blackness…

"Is there everything okay?" The soft voice coming from doorway jerked him back into reality and Yugi shot his wide eyes to look at the poor nurse who was apparently unable to resist them. Yami almost cramped because of his swallowed laugh. He only leaned back against the wall and watched as the nurse fussed over Yugi like he would die any given second.

Finally, she was happy and patted Yugi's shoulder.

"Are you okay now, sweetie?"

Yugi blushed again but nodded.

"I'm okay. Thank you."

"You are welcome, dear. Be careful."

She left and Yugi almost hit his head on the wall.

"Isn't there any normal woman nurse in the whole Universe?"

"I don't think so," Yami snickered. "Shall we go then, before they decided to put you to the bed rest."

"Holy shit," Yugi paled and hurried out off the bed, falling straight towards Yami.

"Oh, easy now," Yami said, concern in his voice. "Do you want me to carry you to the car? It won't be good if your feet get dirty from the ground."

Yugi tilted his head, looking down at his feet. As if he was calculating. Then he sighed and nodded.

"Okay. If you want. Are you sure you won't hurt your back or something?"

"Pretty sure," Yami smirked, picking up Yugi's shoes and giving them to him before he raised the lithe body into his arms again, walking out the room and the whole hospital.

"I will drive you home, and no, it wasn't a suggesting," he silenced Yugi before he could even start to protest.

With some difficulties, Yami managed to open his car's door without putting Yugi on the ground. Yugi fastened his seat belt as Yami sat down in the driver's seat.

"Do you need anything before I get you home?" Yami asked, starting the car. "Like something from a grocery store or the painkillers?"

Yugi just smiled him gently and Yami wondered quickly if he had some problems with his heart. It was acting weirdly.

"No, I think I have all I need."

"Good," Yami gulped, focusing on the road. "So, what's your address?"

"It's Silvery Plains Lane 42."

Yami nodded. The address was unknown to him so he used his GPS and let it tell him where to go.

On the way, Yami noticed that Yugi's breathing was uneven and he shot a quick look at him.

"Are your legs hurting?"

"Yeah," Yugi admitted with a weak smile. "A little. Don't worry about it."

Hell yeah. Right after he had stopped needing air to live.

Finally, the GPS told him that they were at their destination. The street was quiet and there were neat rows of trees on both sides of the road.

"It is that light blue building over there," Yugi pointed and Yami looked that the six-story high building. It was neat and every one of its balconies had been covered by glass.

"Can I just park by the road, or…?"

"Turn right after the building. There is a small parking area."

Yami nodded and did as told, parking his car in the free spot near the door. He frowned to Yugi, who unfastened his seat belt and blushed slightly.

"Do you want me to carry you inside?" Yami asked quietly. "I don't want to pry or anything but if your legs are in so much pain, It would''t do any good to wear them out too much."

Yugi lowered his gaze and sighed.

"You are right." He chuckled. "I think that would be best if you want to do that… My legs are swollen more and the bandages are hurting. I need to get them off and lift my legs."

"This really isn't the first time you've have hurt your legs, is it?" Yami smirked dryly, opening his door and walking around the car to pick Yugi up.

"No," Yugi laughed shortly and shook his head. "I can't even remember which number this would be."

"Everyone of them coming from horses?" Yami asked as he lifted Yugi up, kicked the door closed and activated the locks.

"Thank God no," Yugi smiled but avoided Yami's gaze as he walked inside the building. "There had been a few other accidents as well."

Yami raised his eyebrows but Yugi acted like he hadn't noticed. Instead, he pushed the elevator's button for them and the metal-colored door opened. When Yami stepped in, Yugi pushed button number five and the elevator started to raise up.

"I hope you won't be late for anything because of me?" Yugi asked when they arrived on the right floor and Yugi pointed the right door. It was painted white, almost the same shade as the walls. In Yami's opinion, the corridor looks very lame and cheap. There wasn't even a carpet on the floor.

"Don't worry. My whole evening is free," he smiled at Yugi, who looked relieved and picked up the key from his pocket and opened the lock.

Yami stepped into the small lobby and Yugi pulled the door closed after them.

"Okay, you may put me down now," Yugi said quietly and Yami quickly looked at him before slowly lowering him to his feet.

A sharp hiss of pain come immediately from Yugi's lips and he grabbed hold from the lobby's wall.

"You shouldn't stand on your own," Yami frowned, trying to focus on Yugi and not to pry his home.

Yugi gasped for air and cursed quietly.

"Can you help me a little?" he asked, not looking up. Yami smiled gently and took off his shoes and jacket.

"Of course."

"Thank you," Yugi smiled at him, dropping his own jacket to the chair that was placed by the lobby's wall. "Could you carry me on the couch? It is in the living room."

"Sure," Yami nodded, lifting Yugi up again and stepping further into his home.

It was impossible not to look around. The apartment was much smaller than his own. There was only a small living room and the little open kitchen in the left corner of the room. There was also two currently shut doors that Yami assumed lead to the bathroom and the bedroom. The window took almost all the far end wall and beside it was the door to the balcony.

Seemed that Yugi liked earthy colors, like every shade of brown, green, and red. It actually made a good-looking combination with almost pure white walls and ceiling. Even the floor was white and even though it was made of looking like a plank-made, Yami knews it was probably just laminate.

The couch by the wall and was large enough for three people. There were lots of pillows and even some plushies which caused Yami smirk. He helped Yugi down onto the couch and straightened his back.

"Thank you," Yugi sighed, starting to immediately unwrap his legs. "Can I bring you some cold towels?" Yami offered and got a warm smile as thanks.

"If you please. There is coffee in the kitchen if you want," Yugi offered, almost moaning in relieve when the pressure around his feet was removed.

"It is really official: if you want to put bandages on your feet, do it yourself. Even after all these years there, I haven't meet a single nurse that can do it just right."

"I can imagine that it would be hard when you can't feel it on your own?" Yami said, coming back from the bathroom with a bucket and a few tiny towels. "Are these okay?" he asked, lifting one of them. "I couldn't find anything else."

"They are just fine, thank you," Yugi smiled and Yami put the bucket down, wetting one of the towels and then helped Yugi lift his legs higher with the pillows.

Yugi put to wet towels on his feet and leaned back down, sighing deeply from relief. Yami quickly looked away. Oh gosh… Yugi had no idea how tempting he was when he made those tiny voices and arched his neck.

Yami rose up and turned towards the kitchen but stopped when he noticed the pictures on the wall and that vitrine that was under the pictures. Every one of those pictures was taken in different places. The only thing that was the same was that there was always Yugi and Pharaoh and some award. It would be a cup or ribbon but there it was. And every one of them was there, inside the vitrine.

Yami whistled.

"Quite a collection," he said and looked at Yugi who blushed.

"I had a lot of time in my hands," he waved off and turned his gaze away. Yami was still able to see his blushing and smirked to himself.

Curiously, he looked at the vitrine, looking at the one particular award. And there it was, on the upper shelf. The first prize from Kanto region championship. The cup looked like a pillar which had a horse standing atop of it.

"I see you won Kanto's championship," Yami said and Yugi startled. He fluttered his eyelids a little like he had been falling asleep.

"Huh? Oh, yeah. It was really tough competition," Yugi smiled and laid his head back against the pillows.

"Are you currently training for any competitions?" Yami asked, remembering how Yugi had been riding Pharaoh several times when he had arrived at the stable.

Yugi blushed.

"Yeah. But it's not as big a deal as your progress." He smiled at Yami, making him blush also and turning away.

"Progress, really," Yami snorted, waving towards Yugi's legs. "If I had really made progress, you wouldn't have gotten hurt today."

He gots a very wet towel on his face and stared at Yugi in disbelieved.

"Listen, you thick-headed man," Yugi almost growled at him. Yami couldn't know how he was able to sound so threatening while laid on his back on the couch. "Everyone of us falls down every now and them. Everyone of us serious riders needs to deal with panicking horses at some point in our career. Life is the most dangerous thing on the whole planet, you can't change that."

Yami opened his mouth to say something, and get another towel in his face.

"Gah!" he gacked, getting the towel out of his mouth and glared at Yugi who was totally helpless with his laughing.

"I think someone is getting an advantage for his injuries," Yami growled threateningly, still smiling. He leaned over Yugi, dropping the towels back into the bucket. The sparking amethyst eyes stared up at him, full of mirth.

"I thought you were going to make that coffee?" Yugi tried with a very innocent smile.

"I was before someone interrupted me," Yami whispered, feeling suddenly very hot. Holy shit... When had he leaned this close to Yugi? He could almost count every one of his eyelashes and… he could feel Yugi's breathing on his skin. Yami's gaze dropped to Yugi's lips. Finding them a little parted, panting oh so lightly… He licked his own lips that were suddenly as dry as the desert.

What would Yugi taste like? The thought shoot through his head and rapidly Yami backed away, not trusting himself.

"I-I will make that coffee!" he shuttered, hiding in the kitchen, shaking from head to toe. What in hell had he been thinking? This little game of his was getting way too serious. He didn't want to upset Yugi and definitely didn't want to harass him!

Yami took a few deep breaths before he was able to do something like make coffee. Then he worked on autopilot, quickly finding mugs, sugar and milk.

Gulping nervously, Yami poured the coffee into the mugs and then, hoping that Yugi wasn't angry, called him.

"Do you want sugar or milk in your coffee?"

"Both, please." Yugi's voice was sleepy and Yami sighed from relief. If Yugi was that tired, maybe he would just forget what had happened.

"Four spoons of sugar," came with yawn and Yami's brows jumped to his hairline. Four? Yugi really likes sweets then… He carefully added all spoonfuls and some milk in Yugi's mug, keeping his own totally black.

"There is also painkiller in the left counter," Yugi called and Yami quickly grabbed the painkiller bottle and took it with him back into the living room.

"Here you go," he smiled at Yugi, lowering the mug carefully on the coffee table. Yugi sat up and rubbed his face.

"Are you tired?" Yami asked, blowing in his coffee.

"A little," Yugi yawned and opened the painkiller bottle and took two of them. "I didn't sleep well last night and now all this…" He waved his hand and gulped the medicine down with the coffee. "I'm afraid that I will be out cold really soon. I'm sorry I can't be a better host today."

"Don't need to be," Yami smiled, being happy that Yugi didn't mention what had happened earlier. "You need to rest. I hope your legs will be better by tomorrow."

"Me too," Yugi smiled. "I have school to go."

"Oh, right," Yami chuckled. "I totally forgot that."

"Lucky you," Yugi laughed softly. "I need to do a huge study project about some ancient culture's ceremonies for life and I'm barely started."

"I know you can do it," Yami smiled and Yugi rolled his eyes.

"Hey, I'm the teacher here."

"If you say so," Yami smirked, drinking last of his coffee. "I'll let you sleep now. Do you think you can manage on your own?"

Yugi raised his brow to him.

"If I won't, do you want to change my clothes and take me to the shower?"

Yami blushed and Yugi laughed.

"I will be okay, really. And thank you."

"I wasn't a big deal," Yami said, rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment. "So, I will see you on Wednesday?" He shot a concerned look at Yugi's legs.

"I will be there," Yugi promised. "Take care."

"You too," Yami smiled. "Bye, and good night."

"Good night!"

Yami took his shoes and jacket and stepped out from the apartment, still blushing slightly. Damn Yugi… If he knew what his teasing was doing to him… Yami growled at the empty elevator and tried not to think anymore any of it. Neither Yugi in the shower, nor taking off his clothes. His arousal was already throbbing and he was still in a public place.

And no, he swore by himself when he collapsed in his car, he wouldn't masturbate at home just because of his overactive imagination! There had to be some limit for this! He wanted to be able to look in mirror tomorrow… And he didn't even want to think about Wednesday if he…

Yami hit his forehead on the steering wheel and starting his car, driving home.

He was in some deep shit… And the fucking erection wouldn't go away. His imagination had been allied with it against him.

Moaning in frustration and want, Yami stormed into the shower as soon as he got home. There weren't any arctic temperatures in the shower system, but he turned it as cold as he could and then just leaned against to wall to try and calm down.

Slowly, it worked and he was able to dry himself and walk still shivering into the kitchen to eat something. Glancing a the clock he realized that it was already nine o'clock at night. The whole trip to the hospital and then the time at Yugi's apartment had been longer than he had thought. No wonder he felt so tired.

And there was still homework to be done… Lucky him, indeed…

* * *

 **Hope you like it^^ Please, leave your comments, they are much more than just words.  
**


	9. Chapter 9

**Hello everyone and merry Christmas even if it's a bit late^^  
Anyway I haven't forget you (or this fic) so here it is. A brand new chapter and a lot more to shame on me...  
Ehem. Anyway. I need to sincerely thank everyone who leave their comments or started to follow this odd journey. They give me strength and faith.  
And special thanks to King of Doors who isn't yet faint for my typos and brainfarts. That's something!  
But without anymore my babbling: here it is!**

* * *

 _I can do this._ Yami told to himself, squeezing the steering wheel in his hands.  
 _I can do this. Yugi didn't say anything on Monday… I'm sure he would have said something if he had noticed… Oh gosh, why me?_ He leaned his head over the wheel, closing his eyes.  
Currently, he was sitting at the stables parking area and trying to collect enough courage to face Yugi after his stupidity from Monday.

He hadn't seen Yugi at the University yesterday nor today. It hadn't been any big surprise but he was still worried. Thanks to his dreams, he hadn't forgotten how fragile Yugi had looked laying on the couch.  
Yami growled.  
Yep… Thanks to those dreams, he had had serious problems doing anything other than standing under the cold shower. Yep, those dreams definitely hadn't focused on Yugi's injuries…

He raised his gaze and looked at his watch. Time to go… A sigh was released from his lips when Yami get out his car and locked it before he started walking down to the sand road.  
There was plenty of fallen leaves and the wind was getting colder and colder every day. Yami tugged up the collar of his jacket, wondering if he needed to buy a new winter jacket for riding.

"Yami!" The cheerful greeting startled him when he arrived at the yard of the stable. He raised his gaze from the ground and looked right.  
Yugi was standing at the doorway of the riding hall where Yami hadn't been before. A smile crept its way up his lips instinctively when Yami noticed that Yugi was able to stand without any help.  
"Yugi," he greeted back, nodding to the shorter man. "Are your legs better now?"  
"Much better," Yugi flashed a smile. "Though they are still sore so I think we should take a shorter riding session today and then, if you want, I can teach you how to clean up the horse's equipment and the horse itself."  
Yami's brows raised.  
"Isn't it a little bit cold to start playing with water?"  
Yugi tilted his head back and laughed.  
"It might be, but we had a special room where we can do it without freezing our fingers or the horse."  
"Okay then," Yami nodded curiously. "Sounds good."  
Yugi nodded back a little more seriously.  
"I wanted to ask because not all of my soon-to-be race riders want to do that." He didn't roll his eyes but Yami was quite sure that Yugi didn't look good by it.  
"They only want to ride?"  
"Yep." Yugi sighed but then smiled again and waved Yami inside, closing the door.

Yami was surprised when he saw Captain was already in there but the gelding wasn't wearing its saddle.  
"You want me to ride without the saddle?" he asked, staring at Yugi in disbelieve.  
"You are more than ready," Yugi encouraged him. "Don't worry. We won't do anything too difficult." He smiled and his eyes seemed to gather every single piece of the light from the hall. "Trust me, Yami."  
Yami hesitated, looking at Captain, who looked back totally calm. Just waiting for his decision.  
"Okay. I will try," Yami sighed.  
"Awesome," Yumi praised. "Come. There is the stool that you can use." Yugi took Captain's reins and Yami follow him to the steady looking wooden stool that stood in the corner. There were even two steps for helping smaller riders but the stool was still high enough that when Yami stood atop it, he could easily slip his leg over Captain's back.

Yugi handed the reins to him and looked up. "Steady enough?"  
"I think so," Yami muttered back, feeling anxious. It was so abnormal that he couldn't get any support for his legs. Captain's body heat felt so close.  
"Just try to walk around the hall," Yugi advised.  
"Everything's still the same, you just don't have that thick mass of leather between you and Captain."  
"Much easier said than done," Yami smirked dryly but obeyed, pressing Captain's side and the horse started walking.

Yami looked forward, trying to relax. It wasn't really that big a deal to ride without the saddle. He just felt movements much easier and it felt more natural to keep his legs around Captain's tummy.  
"It isn't that bad, is it?" Yugi called and Yami laughed, shaking his head.

"No, it's not."  
Yugi's soft laugh echoed all around the hall. "Okay then. You want to try to do some circles?"  
"Sure," Yami nodded, starting to make them as soon as he had said it. Nowadays he didn't need the corner's help anymore and it had come more natural to guide the movement with his legs, not with his hands.  
Captain obeyed nicely and they did several circles all around the hall.

"Take hold now," Yugi commented and Yami stopped Captain at the middle of the hall, raising his brows to Yugi.  
"What now?"  
Yugi walked to them and Yami noticed, frowning when he did, that he was limping again. Not as much as Monday, but still.  
"You need to sit down," he told him but Yugi just shook his head.  
"It's okay, really."  
Yami wasn't so sure but didn't say anything else, just waiting for Yugi's guide.  
"Next thing we will be training is to back up. It's a part of the dressage competitions and it would show how confident the horse really is."  
"Is it also related to the trust between the horse and the rider?" Yami frowned and Yugi nodded.  
"Yes. Horses are prey so they don't want to go anywhere where they can't see. Even though horses have a very large field of vision, they have blind spots right in front and behind them. They can handle the spot in front of them, but the one behind them is the spot predators usually are."  
"Okay, I understand," Yami nodded taking a deep breath. "So, how will I do that?"  
"First you need to steady your sitting. Like you want to start moving forward but at the same time you will shorten the reins and keep them short. It's the signal to the horse that it needs to move backward."  
Yami followed those bits of advice and was really surprised when Captain actually took a few steps backward. He chuckled and patted the horse's neck.  
"It went well."  
"Really," Yugi agreed smiling. "Take a circle and then try again."

Yami practiced backing up several times before Yugi was content.  
"Want to try a trot?" Yugi lifted his brows to Yami.  
"You don't have to do if you don't feel steady enough."  
Yami bit his bottom lip unsure, focusing on his own body.  
"I think I'll try..." he gulped. Really, the worst thing that could happen was he fell off. Nothing too big.  
"Okay. You can raise to a trot anytime you want."  
Yami took a deep breath and then rode Captain forward and the gelding obeyed. It started trotting along the long side of the hall.  
Yami cursed aloud, grabbing handful of the horse's mane and glued his legs around Captain's tummy. Without the support of the saddle, he felt that his brain would soon pour out of his ears.  
"Lean a bit forward and steady yourself on your knees," Yugi advised him.  
"Light seating will help."  
Yami wasn't so sure but if he had learned something during these weeks, Yugi always gave very good advice. So he did as told and was really surprised when it worked. He felt way more comfortable. He needed to steady his sitting twice but then he was able to actually enjoy trotting all around the hall.  
In the end, when he finally stopped Captain by Yugi, Yami beamed like the sun itself. Yugi laughed.  
"It really makes it easier, right?"  
"Indeed! I really hate being forced to do a posting trot."  
"It will get more comfortable when you get more experience," Yugi promised him.  
"Get down now so we can go wash Captain."

Yami followed Yugi, who was slightly limping, to the side door of the stable. Yami was frowning the whole way.  
"You should really sit down," he said again, concerned for Yugi's wellbeing.  
"I will soon," Yugi waved his concerns off and opened the side door, letting Yami and Captain in.  
The room they entered was semi large and it was quite bare. The floor was bare concrete and the walls were made of same style tile of normal bathroom walls. In the floor was the sewer for water. On the wall was the green hose in a roll, ready for use. There were also several rubber brushes, shampoo and a few things that Yami couldn't identify .  
"You can chance Captain's bridle to the halter." Yugi gave Captain's halter to Yami who changed it and then attached the long halter strap onto the halter. Yugi did the same on the other side and Captain stood still in the middle of the room, shaking its head slightly.  
"You'll want to change your boots." Yugi helds out a pair of Wellington boots and Yami noticed that he had already changed his own boots.  
"Thanks." Yami left his own boots by the door and took off his jacket just like Yugi had done.  
Under that jacket, Yugi had only the light blue t-shirt and Yami couldn't help but shake his head. He wore a long sleeved shirt and still he had been a bit cold outside.  
"How are you not totally like an ice cube?" he smirked and Yugi looked puzzled before he looked down and shrugged his shoulders.  
"I'm used to it. And I have been moving around all day long."  
Yami shook his head and sighed. Yugi turned around, lifting to hose out of its hook and Yami sincerely wished he would have kept his jacket on. He had all too good view of Yugi's butt and it was a really distracting sight. Seriously… Yami was sure that someone could have pressed a gun against his forehead and he wouldn't notice. How on earth could a man look so good with slightly too big Wellington boots while holding a hose?

"Earth to Yami, earth to Yami. Can you hear me?"  
Yami startled out of his daydreams and blushed, noticing Yugi's amused look.  
"What?" he grunted, trying to force his brain back on track.  
"Ready to start?"  
"When you are." Yami deserved Yugi's chuckles as he walked around Captain and to Yugi who shook his head and calmed down.  
"So, before we started you should know that the horses are individuals for many parts of life and that includes water. Some horses fear water, some tolerated it, some loved it. Pharaoh, for example, loves water and can be such a fool because of it." Yugi smiled fondly at some private thoughts and Yami smiled too. Yugi looked so happy due to the memory. It was over way too soon and Yugi continued.  
"Captain tolerates water but hates when it's too close to his head. It's a survival instinct thing. Their vestibular system is inside their ears just like ours, but the horses' are much more vulnerable. They can drown if water gets inside their ears while swimming so they panic even on dry land if that happens. That why it's important to be careful."  
"I will keep that in mind," Yami nodded, looking at the hose. "How warm does the water need to be?"  
"Just a bit warmer than your hand," Yugi answered, turning the water on, keeping the hose towards the floor.  
Captain twisted his ears when the water poured to the floor and Yugi let Yami try the water with his hand. Then he did it too.  
"It's good. Another basic thing you should keep in mind while washing the horse is that it isn't the same as washing a car or something. Don't raise the water pressure. It's totally fine how it's flowing right now. This way it won't hurt the horse or scare it."

Yami nodded and together they started to wet Captain, who twisted its ears again but didn't react anyway else.  
"Could you get that orange bottle from the shelf?" Yugi asked and Yami obeyed, grabbing said bottle and bringing it to Yugi who flashed a smile at him.  
"Thanks. Want to take the hose?" Yugi offered the hose to Yami who took it, trying not to wet himself. Or Yugi… As tempting as that thought was. Yami rolled his eyes and let the water run down Captain's back. Yugi took a big yellow sponge and added the shampoo to it. Then he lowered the shampoo bottle on the floor by the wall.  
"This is similar to when you wash yourself," he told Yami while starting to rub Captain's neck ina circular motions. The shampoo foam a little, dripping to the floor.  
"Of course there is much more space to clean," Yugi laughed and Yami fought back several very dirty images. Yugi didn't seem to notice that the foam was also dripping on his shirt, wetting it in very disturbing ways.  
Yugi moved closer to Yami, continuing from the neck to the back.  
"You can rinse Captain's neck now. It's better not to let the foam and dirt dry up."  
"Okay," Yami nodded and turned, intending to walk around Yugi, but the hose had something else in its mind. It twisted around on the floor and Yami stumbled but managed to gain his balance before he would have fallen to the floor.  
A muffled yelp startled Yami and he tugged his gaze up, eyes widening. Yugi stood beside Captain the sponge still in his hands, but… He was soaking wet. The water dripped off his wet locks, glittered onto his skin and glued his shirt and pants to his skin. Yugi's look was of pure shocked when he slowly raised his gaze to Yami, who stared back equally shocked.  
Yugi looks so fucking hot! Yami couldn't even move his gaze off him and his stare brought a beautiful blush upon Yugi's cheeks.  
Finally, some very tiny part of Yami's intelligence got some movement to the rest of his brain.  
"I'm sorry," Yami's words stumbled out off his mouth and even now he couldn't move his gaze away.  
"I… didn't mean to..."  
Yugi shivered and shook his head, silencing Yami.  
"It's okay," he breathed and smiled a little.  
"I was just surprised." He dropped the sponge and tried squeezing the water out of his hair. Yami lowered his gaze to the floor, feeling his cheeks get hotter. This couldn't get any more embarrassing even if he tried… He rubbed his face with his free hand and forced his brain to focus on this moment and not all those images of Yugi's wet body.  
"Maybe it's safer if you hold the hose and I use the sponge," he offered with a dry smile, lifting his gaze to Yugi, who had gotten most of the water out of his hair. His locks drooped all over his face, making him look even more adorable than before.  
"Should you change your clothes?"  
"I don't have anything to change into," Yugi chuckled and wiped his hair out of his face. Yami bit his lip.  
"I'm sorry," he said again, feeling extremely guilty. Yugi laid his hand on Yami's arm. Yami looked up and was caught by those amethyst eyes which stared straight at to his soul.  
"It's fine, really," Yugi said with a soft tone.  
"It's just water."  
"You could get a cold," Yami said quietly and Yugi shrugged his shoulders.  
"Maybe, but I highly doubt that. I can stay inside until my clothes are dry. After all, I have an evening shift so I will be here until ten o'clock."  
Yami sighed deeply.  
"Okay. But I'm still sorry."  
Yugi couldn't keep his giggles down and Yami smiled as well.  
"If you want to be," Yugi teased and slapped Yami's arm softly.

Still smiling Yami offered the hose to Yugi and crouched to pick the sponge up from the floor.  
"Let's continue, shall we?"  
"We shall," Yugi smiled and started to rinse Captain's neck while Yami rubbed the horse's back and tummy.  
The rest of the washing went smoothly enough and Yami was happy when he could rinse his hands and Yugi put the hose back to the wall. Yami noticed that his shirt was starting to dry up. It was good, even though he was a little bit disappointed.  
 _Gosh, man_ , he scolded himself. _Don't you have enough material for your wet dreams already?  
_ He shook his head a bit and looked at Yugi who took a strange metal thing out of the shelf. It was a simple thin, long plate of steel that was just slightly curved and on both ends were wooden handles.  
"What is that?" Yami tilted his head to the item and Yugi smiled.  
"This is a sweat scraper. We can use this and wipe most of the water off Captain's fur." Yugi showed Yami how to hold the item and started to dry Captain with long wipes. The whole process was so quick that while Captain was not completely dry, he didn't drip water anymore.

Yugi patted Captain's neck and offered it a piece of carrot he had to taken off the little basket by the wall.  
"All done."  
Yami looked at Yugi and blinked in surprise.  
"Already? Okay. It went..." His gaze hit Yugi's wet clothes and he grimaced.  
"Not totally well, but..." He offered a sheepish smile and Yugi laughed by his heart.  
"Come," Yugi encouraged.  
"Let's take Captain back to his box stall."  
Yami nodded and unleash Captain, taking hold only from its halter while Yugi picked up Captain's bridle.  
Luckily there was a door where they could go straight into the stable and avoid going out. Yami was still concerned about Yugi's wellbeing. Yami took Captain inside its own box stall and then closed the door.  
Yugi leaned against the wall and lifted his brow.  
"Do you want to clean up Captain's equipment today, or should we try it later? If we do it now, it will take more than we have left from your hour. So if you want to go home in time, we should leave it for now."  
Yami frowned, looking at Yugi. He didn't consider his own time but Yugi's feet. He didn't want to force him to stand any longer than was absolutely necessary.  
"I think we should leave it for later. We'll have plenty of time later," he smiled a little.

Yami looked toward the stable's door but hesitated, looking back to Yugi who tilted his head curiously.  
"Something on your mind?" he asked with a little smile. Yami chuckled.  
"Indeed." He bit his lip but then forced the words out of his mouth.  
"I keep wondering … If we could meet this weekend…? Like going out for coffee or... something?" He felt the serious need to kick his stammering brain out of his head.  
"Though I have a meeting on Saturday so… maybe on Sunday?" He gulped, shooting a hopeful look at Yugi. There was a little smile on his lips and it gave hope to Yami.  
"I would like to go with you," Yugi answered, a smile growing more and more, reacting easily his eyes, lighting them up.  
Yami stared at him.  
"Really?"  
Yugi laughed and touched softly Yami's arm as he passed.  
"Don't sound so surprised, it will be fun to talk with you. I will call you on Saturday."  
"Okay." Yami's throat was suddenly dry as desert sand and his arm was tingling where Yugi had touched it. He looked after Yugi like an idiot until the spell released him and Yugi disappeared into the office. Yami took a deep breath and tried to moisten his mouth without any success. Holy shit… Had that really happened? Based on his still tingling arm, the answer was yes but his rational mind was still skeptical.  
Yami rubbed his face and sighed.  
There wasn't anymore hope that he would enjoy Seto's party. Not when he would be waiting for Sunday and his meeting with Yugi. Oh gosh… Where should he go with him? Would Yugi like something simple or would he be expecting something more classy?  
Should the meeting be called a date? Or was Yugi speaking just only as a friend?  
Yami's thoughts were such a big mess as he walked out of the stable and to his car.  
Saturday and that phone call couldn't come quickly enough.

* * *

 **Hope you like it. If you have a moment, please drop a comment, I love everyone of them^^**


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